Based on the Federal Law of the Russian Federation of December 30, 2012 “On Amendments to Article 1.1 of the Federal Law “On Days of Military Glory and Memorable Dates of Russia”, in our country, August 1 is annually celebrated as the Day of Remembrance of Russian Soldiers who died in the First World War.

For well-known reasons, the First World War in our country at one time received very little attention, and its heroes were, if not forgotten, then relegated to the background in historiography. That great war was considered only in the context of the harbinger of two Russian revolutions, their unique catalyst. The very name of the war “imperialist” was supposed to indicate that by definition there could not have been any feat of the Russian soldier in the battles of the beginning of the century.

This approach to covering WWI today looks insignificant, since it is history that teaches us not to repeat fatal mistakes, to honor the memory of our ancestors, the exploits of heroes, to emulate them and consolidate for the effective development of the country.
Historians are still arguing about what losses our army suffered in that war, which was first called a world war. If we “average” the data that is most often published in historiographical publications, we can come to the conclusion that the number of soldiers killed in the army of the Russian Empire in WWI was less than 1.6 million people, and the number of wounded was up to 3.8 million. Even more than 2- More than ten million soldiers and officers were captured by the enemy. The loss figures are colossal. It turns out that only every second of those mobilized returned home safe and sound, and also avoided German (Austro-Hungarian, etc.) captivity.

This is a huge price that Russia had to pay for the war, the advisability of direct entry into which the empire of Nicholas II is still the subject of heated debate among specialist historians and, let’s say, those who like to speculate on historical topics. Without touching, as they liked to say in certain circles in those years, the extremely complex question of the expediency of Russian participation in the war, we can unequivocally say that we must not forget about this war. If only because it is an event that teaches an object lesson in how you can lose a great country without any clear prerequisites. It is gratifying that in history lessons in modern schools attention is paid to the issues of the First World War, however, based on the scale of the historical event, its prerequisites and its consequences, such attention should definitely be more emphasized. This is about the question of how today’s Russia is trying with all its might to drag it into a direct armed conflict - the partners have their hands full with this type of weakening of the country, and it would be strange to deny this.

Today, commemorative events are held in different parts of the country. Thus, in Moscow, on Novopeschanaya Street, a ceremony is held to lay wreaths and flowers at the obelisk “Fallen in the World War of 1914-1918”, as well as at the grave of Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich in the Chapel of the Transfiguration. Previously, on the site of the memorial complex there was a Moscow city fraternal cemetery, where soldiers who fell during WWI were buried (opened in 1915). The initiative to create a mass burial belongs to Grand Duchess Elizaveta Feodorovna, the wife of Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich (the emperor’s brother Alexandra III), founder of the Marfo-Mariinsky monastery.

Approximately 17 years after the opening of the cemetery, it was liquidated. In 1998, the Chapel of the Transfiguration of the Savior was built on this site, and in 2004 the memorial complex itself was opened.

Today it is a venue for commemorative events. On August 1, 2016, they are attended by members of the Russian Historical Society, military personnel of the honor guard company of the Moscow commandant’s office, as well as government representatives, including individual deputies of the State Duma.

Commemorative events in honor of the soldiers who died during the First World War were also held with the participation of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who visited Slovenia. The President of Russia visited the Vršić pass, located near the town of Kranjska Gora. This place is famous for the fact that in 1916, one of the groups of Russian prisoners of war, used by the Austrians for construction work, was covered by an avalanche, burying at least three hundred people alive. Other Russian soldiers erected a chapel in memory of the tragedy, which this year turned exactly 100 years old, like the tragedy itself at the Vršić Pass.

In total, about 10 thousand Russian prisoners of war died in these places, who were kept in unbearable conditions. Photo about the detention of captured Russian soldiers:

Kremlin:

During the memorial ceremony, Vladimir Putin and Borut Pahor (President of Slovenia), as well as the Chairman of the Russia-Slovenia Friendship Society Sasha Ivan Gerzhina laid wreaths at the obelisk.

After this, Vladimir Putin and Borut Pahor unveiled a monument to the fallen Russian and Soviet soldiers during the First and Second World Wars. The authors of the monument are Russian artists and sculptors Maria Tatevyan, Yana Bragovskaya, Stanislava Smolyaninova, Oleg Kalinin.

From the speech of the President of the Russian Federation:

I am very glad to visit friendly Slovenia again, where they always welcome guests from Russia with sincere cordiality. I and all my compatriots experience special excitement when they visit this place - the Russian St. Vladimir Chapel. In just one prisoner of war camp near this pass, about 10 thousand Russian soldiers died from backbreaking labor, hunger, and deprivation. When I came up here and saw this modest chapel, I thought: who of those who built it could have thought that a hundred years after this we would gather here and remember the victims of the First World War. But this is happening thanks to representatives of various faiths, thanks to many generations of Slovenians. Thank you for preserving the memory of the victims who were sacrificed on the altar not only of the First, but also of the Second World War. Thank you, Slovenia!

First World War left an indelible mark on our history. And today, the memory of her, the memory of Russian soldiers who fell on the battlefields and were tortured in enemy dungeons should allow us all to comprehend both Russia’s place in the world historical process and the very principles of protecting the interests of our country in the international arena. Think about it and remember to draw the right conclusions.

Ceremonial events dedicated to the Day of Remembrance of Russian soldiers who died in the First World War of 1914-1918 took place.

The opening of the new exhibition and the official launch of the Internet portal, which brings together all the information about the soldiers of the Russian army who died or went missing during the First World War, about their exploits and awards, took place on August 1 - the day the Russian Empire entered the war , which became one of the largest and bloodiest in world history. According to various sources, our country lost about two million of its soldiers in this military conflict. Until recently, their names remained in oblivion - only specialists, historians and representatives of archives had access to these documents. We are talking about about 10 million personal cards, behind each of which is the fate of a person. Now access to many of them is open to everyone on a special website created under the auspices of the Russian Historical Society by the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation and the Federal Archival Agency.

The ceremonial events began with the opening exhibition “Russia on the eve of great upheavals”. The exhibition is dedicated to the history of Russia on the eve of the First World War, the revolution of 1917 and. Opening the exhibition, the Chairman of the Russian Historical Society noted that the beginning of the 20th century in our country was marked by rapid economic growth:

“Russia has taken first place in the world in terms of economic growth rates, largely thanks to the reforms of the government led by Pyotr Arkadyevich Stolypin. Russia was preparing for external aggression, so large budget funds were allocated to the development of new types of weapons. The financing of the military-industrial complex of that time was quite significant... Civilian sectors of the economy also developed at a high pace. In a word, before the start, Russia had very significant economic potential.”

However, at the same time, contradictions within society itself also grew. "They need great upheavals, we need Great Russia!» - stated Peter Stolypin, speaking in the State Duma on May 10, 1907. The distance between the First Russian Revolution and the First World War is only 7-8 years. Transformation processes similar to Stolypin's reforms in other countries lasted for many centuries. And in Russia at the beginning of the 20th century, they seemed to be compressed into a single whole. In a short period of time, the country changed qualitatively in several directions at once: legislative representation and a free press appeared, class-based discriminatory restrictions were removed, and the national economy received an impetus for dynamic development.

“The country also had serious problems. The first of these was the agrarian question, which Pyotr Stolypin unsuccessfully resolved, but should have been resolved much earlier. The imbalance between the industrial sector and the agricultural sector created some instability in the economic system of the country as a whole. And this instability was reflected in the initial period of the war, when Russia was unable to provide the army with the required number of shells and artillery pieces, and a huge mobilization of all the forces of the state was required,”

Said, examining the exhibition, the director of the Institute Russian history RAS Yuri Petrov.

On the part of the Russian Empire, 12 million people were involved in the war. For a long time, data about them was known only to a narrow circle of specialists - all cases were stored in archives. These documents were not classified, but access to them was limited. Now, thanks to the created Internet site “In Memory of the Heroes of the Great War of 1914-1918”, all history buffs from anywhere in the world can view them online.

“Today we are presenting an electronic portal for the losses of the Russian army in the First World War. This archive has been located in the Tyumen region for the last few decades. “I especially want to thank the Russian Ministry of Defense, which got involved in this work and created the organizational and financial conditions for digitizing the file of losses of Russian soldiers in the First World War, coordinated the work of historians, archivists and specialists in the field of information technology,”

Noted Sergey Naryshkin.

According to him, the project to digitize the file of losses during the First World War aroused great interest from the very beginning. Work on the digitization of documents has not yet been completed, but the creators of the resource have already decided to make this file index public. At the moment, there are about 2.5 million cards in the public domain, and there are about 10 million in total. Digitization work continues, the site's data bank will be constantly updated. Moreover, anyone can take part in this process: by registering, every Internet user will be able to publish on the portal, for example, photographs from personal and family archives.

“Today we are opening the first part of the project. This is an interactive resource, so we plan to use feedback with users who will have the opportunity to express their comments and additions. The basis of the portal presented today is the so-called documents of the special office work for collecting and registering information about veterans who have retired due to death, as well as missing military forces operating against the enemy army. This institution was created already in the fall of 1914, at the very beginning of the war, and in 1918 its files and files were transferred to the Bureau for the Accounting of Losses on the Fronts in the First World War as part of the People’s Commissariat for Naval Affairs,”

The head of the Federal Archival Agency specified in his speech Andrey Artizov.

Work on the creation of the portal “In Memory of Heroes” Great War 1914-1918" began in 2015. The portal was developed taking into account the fact that modern users, as a rule, have very little information about their ancestors who lived a hundred or more years ago. Therefore, on the site, a search is possible not only by last name, first name, patronymic, date and place of birth, as well as dates and places of service. The portal has created a whole list of search filters: you can often find your loved ones knowing only indirect information, such as, for example, place of residence. Moreover, users will not have to get confused in the outdated names of volosts and provinces - to search, they will only need to highlight with the cursor on the electronic geographical map approximate location where a person lived.

The electronic map also contains interactive markers of military operations, by clicking on which you can get a brief historical background about this operation.

“Russia fulfilled all its allied obligations, the Russian army participated in all major battles. And we can fully assert that the victory of England and France over Germany and its allies was won thanks to the courage and heroism of Russian soldiers and officers,” said the head of the Russian Ministry of Defense department for perpetuating the memory of those killed in defense of the Fatherland Vladimir Popov. - About 40 independent states were involved in the Great War of 1914-1918, and more than 73 million people took part in it. 10 million died, of which more than two million were Russians.”

Behind every card, already digitized or still stored in archives, there is a true human story. During the presentation of the project, copies of two such cards were presented to the descendants of the heroes of the First World War. Among them is the director of the Central Museum of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation Alexander Nikonov, whose grandfather went through the entire war. During one of the operations on the Austrian front in February 1916, he received serious frostbite on his feet and was hospitalized in Kharkov, as stated in the document.

“Grandfather was born in 1894, was a goldenrod, that is, a jeweler, worked in the Bronnitsky artel. My grandmother told me about how he froze his feet. I remember when I was little, he showed me his feet, he didn’t have two toes on his left foot,”

Told Alexander Nikonov.

Despite the huge historical meaning The First World War, for a long time it was called the “forgotten war.” In the Soviet Union, for obvious reasons, the revolutionary process was the focus of historians and society. On preserving the memory of Russian soldiers imperial army no one thought about it. Now this gap has been filled. Copying of the main set of documents for the portal “In Memory of the Heroes of the Great War of 1914-1918” is in full swing. This work is planned to be fully completed in 2018 - by

The soldiers who died in the Great War were undeservedly forgotten. Therefore, in the summer of 2012, a proposal was made to supplement the law “On Days of Military Glory and Memorable Dates of Russia” with a new event. Russian President V.V. Putin signed Law No. 285-FZ “On Amendments to Article 1.1 of the Federal Law “On Days of Military Glory and Memorable Dates of Russia”, which fixed August 1 as the annual date for celebrating the Day of Remembrance of Russian Soldiers Who Died in the First World War . Celebrated on August 1st since 2013

On August 1, 1914, 102 years ago, Russia entered in one of the largest and bloodiest armed wars in human history - the First World War. The reason for the First World War was the assassination of the Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914 by the Serbian student Gavrilo Princip, one of the members terrorist organization"Mlada Bosna", which fought for the reunification of all South Slavic peoples into one state.

It began on July 28, 1914 and ended on November 11, 1918. As a result of the war, four empires were erased from the world map: Russian, Austro-Hungarian, Ottoman and German. The participating countries lost about 12 million people killed, about 55 million were wounded.

Before World War I, the armed forces of the Russian Empire numbered 12 million people, and it was the largest army in that war. Russia's losses in the First World War amounted to over 2 million killed on the fronts and over 3 million prisoners; the losses of the civilian population of the Russian Empire exceeded 1 million people.

We must remember that important role, which Russia played in that war. One can argue for a long time about which front - the Western (Allied) or the Eastern (Russian) - was more important, but the important fact is that without the participation of our country, the Entente would hardly have been able to achieve a final victory.

Interesting Facts.

Participants of the First World War

Quadruple Alliance : Germany, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire, Bulgaria.

Entente : Russia, France, Great Britain.

In 1914, Russia had 283 aircraft. They only carried out reconnaissance, since they did not have military weapons on board. When meeting the enemy they simply dispersed in different directions.

The first aerial ramming occurred on August 26, 1914 by staff captain P.I. Nesterov. And a few days earlier, on August 22, he made his first “loop.”

The world's first bomber squadron was a formation of four-engine biplanes, which was called "Ilya Muromets" and was used in December 1914.

The tank was first used during the Great War to break through the enemy front. It got its name from the word tank, which translated from English means “tank” or “tank”. However, the Russians called it “lokhan”. In order to transport all the tanks to the front, England started a rumor that Russia had ordered water tanks from them. And these combat vehicles were transported by rail without loss.

After the first months of the 1st World War, the front lines froze, surrounded by barbed wire barriers and covered with minefields. It was during this period that four-legged friends of people, dogs, became unexpectedly widely used.

Dogs were used as ambulance dogs in World War I , messengers (they carried orders to the front line in capsules attached to their torsos). Dogs were also used to lay telegraph wires.

The First World War led to global socio-political, social, economic, political, and cultural changes in the world.

The war of 1914 is one of the bloodiest, claiming millions of lives. 38 independent states out of 59 were drawn into the conflict: not only Europe, but also Africa, the Far and Middle East. The world was divided into 2 sides: the troops of the Entente (34 states, including Russia) and the Central Powers (Germany, Turkey, Austria-Hungary and Bulgaria). The reason for the battle was the leaps in the economic development of countries and the confrontation between world powers. About 11 million soldiers killed and 22 million wounded - this is the result of the First World War. A memorial date has been established in Russia in honor of the victims of this conflict.

When is it celebrated?

The soldiers who died in the Great War were undeservedly forgotten. Therefore, in the summer of 2012, on the initiative of Federation Council member A.I. Lisitsyn, a proposal was made to supplement the law “On Days of Military Glory and Memorable Dates of Russia” with a new event. On December 26, 2012, the Federation Council approved this proposal. 4 days later, on the 30th, the President of the Russian Federation V.V. Putin signed Law No. 285-FZ “On Amendments to Article 1.1 of the Federal Law “On Days of Military Glory and Memorable Dates of Russia”, which fixed August 1 as the annual date for the celebration of Remembrance Day Russian soldiers who died in the First World War.

Who's celebrating

At the very beginning of the last summer month of 2020, all residents Russian Federation remember the soldiers who died in the Great War.

History of the First World War

On June 28, 1914, the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, F. Ferdinand, was killed. This date became the starting point in the global armed conflict. Under the influence of Germany, Austria-Hungary presented Serbia with impossible demands in advance and declared war on it on July 28. Russia, being an ally of Serbia, announced the mobilization and, ignoring the German ultimatum, entered into the conflict. Soon France, Great Britain and other states were drawn into the war. Germany was advancing on the Western Front and moving towards Paris, but as a result of the Russian advance in East Prussia, it was forced to change its plans.

In the fall of 1914, the army of Austria-Hungary was defeated in Galicia, and soon the Turkish troops were defeated in Transcaucasia. 1915 was a year of losses for Russia. The Russian army had to leave Galicia, part of the Baltic states and Poland. The troops of the Central Power defeated Serbia. In 1916, when the German army was unable to break through the Allied defenses in one of the regions of France, a turning point came. The Entente went on the offensive. In the Caucasus, Russian troops occupied Erzurum and Trebizond.

In addition to the global conflict, Russia was experiencing the results of the February Revolution. The army was falling apart, and the Allies had to become more active on other fronts. In Brest, Germany concluded a separate treaty with Russia, and on March 3, 1918, it began to advance deeper into the Western Front. The troops of the Central Power were destroyed by the Entente after the liquidation of the German breakthrough.

In 1914, Russia had 283 aircraft. They only carried out reconnaissance, since they did not have military weapons on board. When meeting the enemy they simply dispersed in different directions.

The first aerial ramming occurred on August 26, 1914 by staff captain P.I. Nesterov. And a few days earlier, on August 9 (22), he made the first “dead loop”.

The world's first bomber squadron was a formation of four-engine biplanes, which was called "Ilya Muromets" and was used in December 1914.

The tank was first used during the Great War to break through the enemy front. It got its name from the word tank, which translated from English means “tank” or “tank”. However, the Russians called it “lokhan”. In order to transport all the tanks to the front, England started a rumor that Russia had ordered water tanks from them. And these combat vehicles were transported by rail without loss.

One of the most terrible phenomena that our planet has known is the First World War. The 38 countries that took part suffered massive losses for four years, about 11 million people died in this terrible massacre. In Russia, on August 1, annually, the memory of the victims of this monstrous war is honored.

A little history

This is the first such global military conflict, in which more than half of the countries on Earth took part (38 out of 59 existing at that time). June 28, 1914 is considered the beginning of the war; on this day, the heir to the Austrian-Hungarian empire, Frank Ferdinant, was killed by Serbian nationalists. Austria-Hungary was at that time under the "informal control" of Germany, and under their pressure declared war on Serbia. Russia, as a supporter of the Serbian state, was forced to announce a general mobilization, and on June 30 joined the military conflict, along with Great Britain, France, and Turkey.

1914 was devastating for the opponents, first Austria-Hungary loses Galicia, and then the Ottoman army is defeated in Transcaucasia. 1915, on the contrary, brought losses for Russia - it loses control over Galitsa, and then part of the Baltic states and Poland. The turning point came in 1916 when Germany was unable to break through the French defenses, the Austro-Hungarians were defeated, and in the Caucasus the Russian army recaptured Erzurum and Trebizond. On March 3, 1918, Germany attempted to transfer all its forces to the Western Front for a massive attack, but suffered final defeat.

When is it celebrated?

Despite the significance of the date, for a long time in Russia this day was not celebrated at all, although the First World War caused no less damage to our country and the world as a whole. Only in June 2012, a member of the Federation Council, Anatoly Ivanovich Lisitsyn, proposed amending the law on “memorable dates” and adding August 1 to the list of “military glory days.” The President of the Russian Federation, V.V. Putin, signed the relevant documents on December 30, 2012. Thus, the Day of Remembrance of the Victims of the First World War acquired official status in 2013.

On this day, it is customary to remember the soldiers who gave their lives in this terrible war and saved our future. All church institutions hold funeral services, flowers and wreaths are brought to the graves of the dead. Rallies and processions are held on central streets and parks, lectures are held in schools and military units, which tell about the heroic deeds of soldiers and the importance of Russians in the outcome of the battle.

Good to know

1) The First World War covered more than half of the Earth’s territory, unfolding in Europe, the Middle and Far East, Africa, and in the waters of the Atlantic, Indian and Arctic Oceans.

2) During the hostilities, more than 11 million people died, and it was the Russian empire, about 2 million dead.

3) Despite the fact that the war ended in 1918, the burial of fallen soldiers continued for another two years, due to the large number of deaths. The mass grave was located in the village of Vsekhsvyatskoye, not far from Moscow. The USSR government underestimated the significance of this place and tried to consign to oblivion everything related to that large-scale disaster, and in 1930 it converted the cemetery into a park. In 1994, the site was converted into a memorial complex for the victims of the First World War.

4) Russia had the weakest weapons at the time of the outbreak of hostilities. The flying troops numbered 283 aircraft, but had no weapons on board and only carried out reconnaissance. When confronted with an enemy, the pilot had to fly away as quickly as possible.

5) For the first time, tanks began to be used at the beginning of the war. This word translated from English means “cistern”; in Russia it was called “tank”. In order to transfer all the vehicles from England, where they were manufactured, to Russia, without losses, they had to spread a rumor that Russia had purchased water tanks from them, such a trick made it possible to transport the tanks over a long distance without losses.

History is an example for the present, how to ensure that the mistakes of the past are not repeated, and an example of what they can lead to. Let's remember the sacrifice that our ancestors made so that today Russia and its citizens live in peace and tranquility.