1. Soviet-Polish war, 1920 It began on April 25, 1920 with a surprise attack by the Polish troops, which had more than a twofold advantage in manpower (148 thousand people against 65 thousand in the Red Army). By the beginning of May, the Polish army reached the Pripyat and the Dnieper, and occupied Kiev. Positional battles began in May-June, in June-August the Red Army went on the offensive, carried out a number of successful operations (May operation, Kiev operation, Novograd-Volyn, July, Rovno operation) and reached Warsaw and Lvov. But such a sharp breakthrough turned into a separation from supply units, convoys. The first cavalry army found itself face to face with superior enemy forces. Having lost many people as prisoners, the Red Army units were forced to retreat. In October, negotiations began, which ended five months later with the signing of the Riga Peace Treaty, according to which the territories of Western Ukraine and Western Belarus were torn away from the Soviet state.

2. Soviet-Chinese conflict, 1929 Provoked by the Chinese military on July 10, 1929. In violation of the 1924 agreement on the joint use of the Chinese Eastern Railway, which was built at the end of the 19th century by the Russian Empire, the Chinese side seized it, arrested over 200 citizens of our country. After that, the Chinese concentrated a 132,000-strong group in the immediate vicinity of the borders of the USSR. Violations of Soviet borders and shelling of Soviet territory began. After unsuccessful attempts to peacefully achieve mutual understanding and resolve the conflict, the Soviet government was forced to take measures to protect the country's territorial integrity. In August, the Special Far Eastern Army was created under the command of V.K. In November, the successful Manchurian-Chzhalaynor and Mishanfus operations were carried out, during which the first Soviet T-18 (MS-1) tanks were used for the first time. On December 22, the Khabarovsk protocol was signed, which restored the former status quo.

3. Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) The USSR helped one of the parties with military and material assistance, and active Soviet military personnel in the form of "volunteers". About 3,000 volunteers went from the Soviet Union to Spain: military advisers, pilots, tankers, anti-aircraft gunners, sailors and other specialists...

4. Armed conflict with Japan near Lake Khasan, 1938 Provoked by the Japanese aggressors. Having concentrated 3 infantry divisions, a cavalry regiment and a mechanized brigade in the area of ​​​​Lake Khasan, the Japanese aggressors at the end of June 1938 captured the Bezymyannaya and Zaozernaya heights, which were of strategic importance for this area. On August 6-9, Soviet troops, with the forces of 2 rifle divisions advanced to the conflict area and a mechanized brigade, knocked out the Japanese from these heights. On August 11, hostilities were stopped. A pre-conflict status quo was established.

5. Armed conflict on the Khalkhin Gol River, 1939 On July 2, 1939, after numerous provocations that began in May, Japanese troops (38 thousand people, 310 guns, 135 tanks, 225 aircraft) invaded Mongolia in order to seize a bridgehead on the western coast of Khalkhin Gol and subsequently defeat the Soviet grouping opposing them (12.5 thousand people, 109 guns, 186 tanks, 266 armored vehicles, 82 aircraft). During three days of fighting, the Japanese were defeated and were driven back to the east bank of the river.

In August, the Japanese 6th Army (75 thousand people, 500 guns, 182 tanks) was deployed in the Khalkhin Gol region, supported by over 300 aircraft. The Soviet-Mongolian troops (57 thousand people, 542 guns, 498 tanks, 385 armored vehicles), supported by 515 aircraft, on August 20, preempting the enemy, went on the offensive, surrounded and destroyed the Japanese grouping by the end of the month. Fighting in the air continued until 15 September. The enemy lost 61 thousand people killed, wounded and captured, 660 aircraft, the Soviet-Mongolian troops lost 18.5 thousand killed and wounded and 207 aircraft.

This conflict seriously undermined the military power of Japan and showed its government the futility of a large-scale war against our country.

6. Liberation campaign in Western Ukraine and Western Belarus. The collapse of Poland, this “ugly offspring of the Versailles system,” created the prerequisites for the reunification of Western Ukrainian and Western Belarusian lands, torn away in the 1920s, with our country. On September 17, 1939, the troops of the Belarusian and Kiev special military districts crossed the former state border, reached the border of the Western Bug and San rivers and occupied these areas. During the campaign, there were no major clashes with the Polish troops.

In November 1939, the lands of Ukraine and Belarus, liberated from the Polish yoke, were accepted into our state.

This campaign contributed to the strengthening of the defense capability of our country.

7. Soviet-Finnish war. It began on November 30, 1939 after numerous unsuccessful attempts to achieve the signing of an agreement on the exchange of territories between the USSR and Finland. According to this agreement, an exchange of territories was supposed - the USSR would transfer part of Eastern Karelia to Finland, and Finland would lease the Hanko Peninsula, some islands in the Gulf of Finland and the Karelian Isthmus to our country. All this was vital to ensure the defense of Leningrad (now St. Petersburg). However, the Finnish government refused to sign such an agreement. Moreover, the Finnish government began to organize provocations at the border. The USSR was forced to defend itself, as a result of which on November 30 the Red Army crossed the border and entered the territory of Finland. The leadership of our country counted on the fact that within three weeks the Red Army would enter Helsinki and occupy the entire territory of Finland. However, a fleeting war did not work out - the Red Army stalled in front of the "Mannerheim Line" - a well-fortified strip of defensive structures. And only on February 11, after the reorganization of the troops and after the strongest artillery preparation, the Mannerheim line was broken through, and the Red Army began to develop a successful offensive. On March 5, Vyborg was occupied, and on March 12, an agreement was signed in Moscow, according to which all the territories required by the USSR were part of it. Our country leased the Khanko peninsula for the construction of a naval base, the Karelian Isthmus with the city of Vyborg, the city of Sortavala in Karelia. The city of Leningrad was now securely defended.

8. Great Patriotic War, 1941-45 It began on June 22, 1941 with a surprise attack by the troops of Germany and its satellites (190 divisions, 5.5 million people, 4300 tanks and assault guns, 47.2 thousand guns, 4980 combat aircraft), which were opposed by 170 Soviet divisions, 2 brigades, numbering 2 million 680 thousand people, 37.5 thousand guns and mortars, 1475 T-34 and KV 1 tanks and over 15 thousand tanks of other models). At the first, most difficult stage of the war (June 22, 1941 - November 18, 1942), the Soviet troops were forced to retreat. In order to increase the combat effectiveness of the armed forces, 13 ages were mobilized, new formations and units were formed, and a people's militia was created.

In border battles in Western Ukraine, Western Belarus, the Baltic states, Karelia, and in the Arctic, Soviet troops bled the enemy's strike groups and managed to significantly slow down the enemy's advance. The main events unfolded in the Moscow direction, where, in the battles for Smolensk that unfolded in August, the Red Army, going on the counteroffensive, forced the German troops to go on the defensive for the first time in World War II. The battle for Moscow, which began on September 30, 1941, ended in early 1942 with the complete defeat of the German forces advancing on the capital. Until December 5, Soviet troops fought defensive battles, holding back and grinding selected German divisions. On December 5-6, the Red Army launched a counteroffensive and pushed the enemy back 150-400 kilometers from the capital.

On the northern flank, the successful Tikhvin operation was carried out, which contributed to the diversion of German forces from Moscow, and in the south, the Rostov offensive operation. The Soviet army began to wrest the strategic initiative from the hands of the Wehrmacht, but it finally passed to our army on November 19, 1942, when the offensive near Stalingrad began, ending in the encirclement and defeat of the 6th German army.

In 1943, as a result of the fighting on the Kursk Bulge, a significant defeat was inflicted on Army Group Center. As a result of the offensive, by the autumn of 1943, Left-Bank Ukraine and its capital, the city of Kiev, were liberated.

The next year, 1944, was marked by the completion of the liberation of Ukraine, the liberation of Belarus, the Baltic States, the entry of the Red Army to the border of the USSR, the liberation of Sofia, Belgrade and some other European capitals. The war was inexorably approaching Germany. But before its victorious end in May 1945, there were also battles for Warsaw, Budapest, Koenigsberg, Prague and Berlin, where on May 8, 1945, the act of unconditional surrender of Germany was signed, which put an end to the most terrible war in the history of our country. The war that claimed the lives of 30 million of our compatriots.

9. Soviet-Japanese War, 1945 On August 9, 1945, the USSR, true to its allied duty and obligations, launched a war against imperialist Japan. Leading an offensive on a front of more than 5,000 kilometers, Soviet troops, in cooperation with the Pacific Fleet and the Amur military flotilla, defeated the Kwantung Army. Having advanced 600-800 kilometers. They liberated Northeast China, North Korea, South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands. The enemy lost 667 thousand people, and our country returned what was rightfully hers - South Sakhalin and the Kuriles, which are strategic territories for our country.

10. War in Afghanistan, 1979-89 The last war in the history of the Soviet Union was the war in Afghanistan, which began on December 25, 1979 and was caused not only by our country's obligation under the Soviet-Afghan treaty, but also by the objective need to protect our strategic interests in the Central Asian region.

Until the middle of 1980, Soviet troops did not directly participate in hostilities, being engaged only in the protection of important strategic facilities, the escort of convoys with national economic goods. However, with the increase in the intensity of hostilities, the Soviet military contingent was forced to get involved in the fighting. To suppress the rebels, major military operations were carried out in various provinces of Afghanistan, in particular, in Panjshir against the gangs of the field commander Ahmad Shah Massoud, to release a large provincial center - the city of Khost and others.

The Soviet troops courageously fulfilled all the tasks that were assigned to them. They left Afghanistan on February 15, 1989 with banners flying, music and marches. They left like winners.

11. Undeclared wars of the USSR. In addition to the above, parts of our armed forces took part in local conflicts in hot spots of the world, protecting their strategic interests. Here is a list of countries and conflicts. Where did our warriors participate:

Civil War in China: from 1946 to 1950.

Fighting in North Korea from China: from June 1950 to July 1953.

Fighting in Hungary: 1956

Fighting in Laos:

from January 1960 to December 1963;

from August 1964 to November 1968;

from November 1969 to December 1970.

Fighting in Algiers:

1962 - 1964 years.

Caribbean crisis:

Fighting in Czechoslovakia:

Fighting on Damansky Island:

March 1969

Fighting in the area of ​​Lake Zhalanashkol:

August 1969

Fighting in Egypt (United Arab Republic):

from October 1962 to March 1963;

June 1967;

from March 1969 to July 1972;

Fighting in Yemen Arab Republic:

from October 1962 to March 1963 and

from November 1967 to December 1969.

Fighting in Vietnam:

from January 1961 to December 1974.

Fighting in Syria:

June 1967;

March - July 1970;

September - November 1972;

October 1973

Fighting in Mozambique:

1967 - 1969;

Fighting in Cambodia:

April - December 1970.

Fighting in Bangladesh:

1972 - 1973 years.

Fighting in Angola:

from November 1975 to November 1979.

Fighting in Ethiopia:

from December 1977 to November 1979.

Fighting in Syria and Lebanon:

June 1982

In all these conflicts, our soldiers have shown themselves to be courageous, selfless sons of their Fatherland. Many of them died defending our country on the distant approaches to it from the encroachments of dark enemy forces. And it is not their fault that now the line of confrontation runs through the Caucasus, Central Asia and other regions of the former Great Empire.

The twentieth century is “rich” in such events as the most bloody wars, devastating man-made disasters, and the strongest natural disasters. These events are terrible both in the number of human casualties and in the amount of damage.

The most terrible wars of the 20th century

World War I

Thirty-eight of the fifty-nine states that existed in the world at that time were participants in the First World War. We can say that almost the whole world was involved in it. Starting in 1914, it ended only in 1918.

Russian Civil War

In this fratricidal war, where reds and whites fought among themselves, about five and a half million people died, according to conservative estimates. It turns out that the Civil War in Russia claimed more lives than all the Napoleonic wars.

The Second World War

Of the seventy-three states of the world that existed at that time, sixty-two states took part in it, that is, about eighty percent of the world's population. We can say that this world war is the most world war, so to speak. The Second World War was fought on three continents, in four oceans.

Korean War

The Korean War was the first military conflict where two superpowers clashed over a limited area without the use of nuclear weapons. The war ended after the armistice was signed. There is still no official announcement of the end of this war.

The worst man-made disasters of the 20th century

Chernobyl accident

In the history of nuclear energy, this disaster is regarded as the largest of its kind, both in terms of economic damage and the number of victims and deaths.

Bhopal disaster

Four thousand people died on the day of the accident, another eight thousand within two weeks. Almost five hundred thousand people were poisoned an hour after the explosion. The causes of this terrible catastrophe have not been established.

Piper Alpha oil rig disaster

The worst natural disasters of the century

We know about major natural disasters that occurred before the beginning of the twentieth century from history. Today's generation has witnessed many natural disasters that have already occurred in the twentieth century.

Cyclone "Bola"

The exact number of victims of the cyclone is unclear. This figure ranges from three to five million people. The lethal force of the storm was not in power. The reason for the huge death toll is that the wave flooded low-lying islands in the Ganges delta, erasing villages from the face of the earth.

Earthquake in Chile

Several thousand people died. The cost of the destruction that occurred is estimated at more than half a billion dollars. There were severe landslides. Many of them changed the direction of the rivers.

Tsunami on the coast of Alaska

The resulting half-kilometer wave, having soared into the air, again plunged into the sea. This tsunami is the highest in the world. Only two people became its victims only due to the fact that there were no human settlements in the area of ​​Lituyi.

The worst event of the 20th century

The use of nuclear weapons has shown the world how colossal their consequences can be. The bombing of Japanese cities is the first use of a nuclear weapon against a person.

The most terrible explosion in the history of mankind, according to the site, is also the work of the Americans. The Big One was blown up during the Cold War.
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A small victorious war, which was supposed to calm the revolutionary moods in society, is still regarded by many as aggression on the part of Russia, but few people look into the history books and know that it was Japan that unexpectedly started hostilities.

The results of the war were very, very sad - the loss of the Pacific Fleet, the lives of 100 thousand soldiers and the phenomenon of complete mediocrity, both the tsarist generals and the most royal dynasty in Russia.

2. World War I (1914-1918)

The long-awaited conflict of the leading world powers, the first large-scale war, which revealed all the shortcomings and backwardness of tsarist Russia, which entered the war without even completing rearmament. The allies in the Entente were frankly weak, and only the heroic efforts and talented commanders at the end of the war made it possible to begin to tilt the scales towards Russia.

However, society did not need the "Brusilovsky breakthrough", it needed change and bread. Not without the help of German intelligence, a revolution was made and peace was achieved, on very difficult conditions for Russia.

3. Civil War (1918-1922)

The Time of Troubles of the 20th century continued for Russia. The Russians defended themselves from the occupying countries, the brother went against the brother, and indeed these four years were one of the most difficult, along with the Second World War. It makes no sense to describe these events in such material, and military operations took place only on the territory of the former Russian Empire.

4. The fight against Basmachi (1922-1931)

Not everyone accepted the new government and collectivization. The remnants of the White Guard found refuge in Ferghana, Samarkand and Khorezm, easily knocked out the disgruntled Basmachi to resist the young Soviet army and could not calm them down until 1931.

In principle, this conflict again cannot be regarded as external, because it was an echo of the Civil War, the “White Sun of the Desert” will help you.

Under tsarist Russia, the CER was an important strategic facility in the Far East, facilitating the development of wild territories and being jointly controlled by China and Russia. In 1929, the Chinese decided that it was time to take away the railway and the surrounding territories from the weakened USSR.

However, the Chinese grouping, which outnumbered it by 5 times, was defeated near Harbin and in Manchuria.

6. Providing international military assistance to Spain (1936-1939)

Russian volunteers in the amount of 500 people went to wrestle with the nascent fascist and General Franko. The USSR also delivered to Spain about a thousand units of ground and air combat equipment and about 2 thousand guns.

Repulse of Japanese aggression at Lake Khasan (1938) and fighting near the Khalkin-Gol River (1939)

The defeat of the Japanese by small forces of the Soviet border guards and subsequent major military operations were again aimed at protecting the state border of the USSR. By the way, after the Second World War, 13 military leaders were executed in Japan for unleashing a conflict near Lake Khasan.

7. Campaign in Western Ukraine and Western Belarus (1939)

The campaign was aimed at protecting the borders and preventing hostilities from Germany, which had already openly attacked Poland. The Soviet Army, oddly enough, in the course of hostilities, repeatedly encountered resistance from both Polish and German forces.

The unconditional aggression on the part of the USSR, which hoped to expand the northern territories and cover Leningrad, cost the Soviet army very heavy losses. Having spent 1.5 years instead of three weeks on hostilities, and having received 65 thousand killed and 250 thousand wounded, the USSR pushed back the border and provided Germany with a new ally in the coming war.

9. Great Patriotic War (1941-1945)

The current rewriters of history textbooks scream about the insignificant role of the USSR in the victory over fascism and the atrocities of the Soviet troops in the liberated territories. However, adequate people still consider this great feat a war of liberation, and are advised to look at least at the monument to the Soviet soldier-liberator, erected by the people of Germany.

10. Fighting in Hungary: 1956

The entry of Soviet troops to maintain the communist regime in Hungary was undoubtedly a show of strength in the Cold War. The USSR showed the whole world that it would be extremely cruel measures to protect its geopolitical interests.

11. Events on Damansky Island: March 1969

The Chinese again took up their old ways, but 58 border guards and the UZO "Grad" defeated three companies of Chinese infantry and discouraged the Chinese from challenging the border territories.

12. Fighting in Algeria: 1962-1964

Help with volunteers and weapons to the Algerians, who fought for independence from France, was again confirmation of the growing sphere of interests of the USSR.

What follows is a list of combat operations involving Soviet military instructors, pilots, volunteers, and other reconnaissance groups. Undoubtedly, all these facts are interference in the affairs of another state, but in essence they are a response to exactly the same interventions from the United States, England, France, Great Britain, Japan, etc. Here is a list of the largest arenas of Cold War confrontations.

• 13. Fighting in the Yemen Arab Republic: from October 1962 to March 1963; November 1967 to December 1969
• 14. Fighting in Vietnam: from January 1961 to December 1974
• 15. Fighting in Syria: June 1967: March - July 1970; September - November 1972; March - July 1970; September - November 1972; October 1973
• 16. Fighting in Angola: from November 1975 to November 1979
• 17. Fighting in Mozambique: 1967-1969; November 1975 to November 1979
• 18. Fighting in Ethiopia: from December 1977 to November 1979
• 19. War in Afghanistan: December 1979 to February 1989
• 20. Fighting in Cambodia: from April to December 1970
• 22. Fighting in Bangladesh: 1972-1973 (for personnel of ships and auxiliary vessels of the USSR Navy).
• 23. Fighting in Laos: from January 1960 to December 1963; from August 1964 to November 1968; November 1969 to December 1970
• 24. Fighting in Syria and Lebanon: July 1982

25. The entry of troops into Czechoslovakia 1968

The Prague Spring was the last direct military intervention in the affairs of another state in the history of the USSR, which received loud condemnation, including in Russia. The "swan song" of the powerful totalitarian government and the Soviet Army turned out to be cruel and short-sighted, and only accelerated the collapse of the Internal Affairs Directorate and the USSR.

26. Chechen wars (1994-1996, 1999-2009)

The brutal and bloody civil war in the North Caucasus happened again at a time when the new government was weak and was only gaining strength and rebuilding the army. Despite the coverage of these wars in the Western media as aggression on the part of Russia, most historians view these events as the struggle of the Russian Federation for the integrity of its territory.

In the study of human history, much attention is paid to military losses. This theme is stained with blood and reeks of gunpowder. For us, those terrible days of severe battles are a simple date, for warriors - a day that completely turned their lives upside down. Wars in Russia in the 20th century have long turned into textbook entries, but this does not mean that they can be forgotten.

General characteristics

Today it has become fashionable to accuse Russia of all mortal sins and call it an aggressor, while other states "simply protect their interests" by invading other powers and carrying out mass bombing of residential areas in order to "protect citizens." In the 20th century, there were indeed many military conflicts in Russia, but whether the country was an aggressor still needs to be sorted out.

What can be said about the wars in Russia in the 20th century? The First World War ended in an atmosphere of mass desertion and the transformation of the old army. During the Civil War, there were many bandit groups, and the fragmentation of the fronts was a matter of course. The Great Patriotic War was characterized by the conduct of large-scale hostilities, perhaps for the first time the military faced the problem of captivity in such a broad sense. It is best to consider in detail all the wars in Russia in the 20th century in chronological order.

War with Japan

At the beginning of the century, a conflict broke out between the Russian and Japanese empires over Manchuria and Korea. After a break of several decades, the Russo-Japanese War (period 1904-1905) became the first confrontation with the use of the latest weapons.

On the one hand, Russia wanted to secure its territory in order to trade all year round. On the other hand, Japan needed new industrial and human resources for further growth. But most of all, European states and the United States contributed to the outbreak of war. They wanted to weaken their competitors in the Far East and manage on the territory of Southeast Asia on their own, so they clearly did not need the strengthening of Russia and Japan.

Japan was the first to start hostilities. The results of the battle were sad - the Pacific Fleet and the lives of 100 thousand soldiers were lost. The war ended with the signing of a peace treaty, according to which Japan received South Sakhalin and part of the Chinese Eastern Railway from Port Arthur to the city of Changchun.

World War I

The First World War was the conflict that revealed all the shortcomings and backwardness of the troops of tsarist Russia, which entered the battle without even completing rearmament. The allies in the Entente were weak, only thanks to the talent of military commanders and the heroic efforts of the soldiers, the scales began to tilt towards Russia. The battles were fought between the Triple Alliance, which included Germany, Italy and Austria-Hungary, and the Entente with Russia, France and England in the composition.

The reason for the hostilities was the assassination in Sarajevo of the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, which was committed by a Serbian nationalist. Thus began the conflict between Austria and Serbia. Russia joined Serbia, Germany joined Austria-Hungary.

The course of the battle

In 1915, Germany carried out a spring-summer offensive, having won back from Russia the territories conquered by it in 1914, the honor of the lands of Poland, Ukraine, Belarus and the Baltic states.

The battles of the First World War (1914-1918) were fought on two fronts: Western in Belgium and France, Eastern - in Russia. In the autumn of 1915, Turkey joined the Triple Alliance, which greatly complicated the position of Russia.

In response to the approaching defeat, the military generals of the Russian Empire developed a plan for a summer offensive. On the Southwestern Front, General Brusilov managed to break through the defenses and inflict serious damage on Austria-Hungary. This helped the Russian troops to advance significantly to the West and at the same time save France from defeat.

truce

On October 26, 1917, at the Second All-Russian Congress, a Decree on Peace was adopted, all the warring parties were invited to start negotiations. On October 14, Germany agreed to negotiate. A temporary truce was concluded, but Germany's demands were rejected, and its troops launched a full-scale offensive along the entire front. The signing of the second peace treaty took place on March 3, 1918, Germany's conditions became more stringent, but for the sake of peace, they had to agree.

Russia was supposed to demobilize the army, pay financial indemnity to Germany and transfer the ships of the Black Sea Fleet to her.

Civil War

When the battles of the First World War were still going on, the Civil War in Russia (1917-1922) began. The beginning of the October Revolution was marked by fighting in Petrograd. The reasons for the rebellion were sharp political, social and ethnic contradictions that escalated after the February Revolution.

The nationalization of production, the ruinous Brest peace for the country, tense relations between the peasantry and food detachments, the dissolution of the Constituent Assembly - these actions of the government, together with a strong desire to retain power, caused burning discontent.

Stages of the revolution

Mass discontent resulted in a revolution in 1917-1922. The civil war in Russia took place in 3 stages:

1. October 1917 - November 1918. The main fronts were established and formed. The Whites fought the Bolsheviks. But since this was in the midst of the First World War, neither side had an advantage.
2. November 1918 - March 1920. The turning point in the war - the Red Army gained control of the main part of the territory of Russia.
3. March 1920 - October 1922. The fighting migrated to the border areas, the Bolshevik government was no longer in danger.

The result of the Russian Civil War in the 20th century was the establishment of Bolshevik power throughout the country.

Opponents of Bolshevism

Not everyone supported the new government that emerged as a result of the Civil War. The soldiers of the "White Guard" found refuge in Fergana, Khorezm and Samarkand. At that time, the military-political and / or religious movement in Central Asia was called Basmachi. The White Guards were looking for disgruntled Basmachi and incited them to resist the Soviet Army. The struggle against Basmachism (1922-1931) lasted almost 10 years.

Here and there pockets of resistance appeared, and it was difficult for the young Soviet Army to put down the uprisings once and for all.

USSR and China

During the time of Tsarist Russia, the Chinese Eastern Railway was an important strategic object. Thanks to the CER, wild territories could develop, moreover, Russia and the Celestial Empire divided the income from the railway in half, as they managed it jointly.

In 1929, the Chinese government noticed that the USSR had lost its former military power, and in general, due to constant conflicts, the country was weakened. Therefore, it was decided to take away from the Soviet Union its part of the CER and the territories adjacent to it. Thus began the Soviet-Chinese military conflict in 1929.

However, this idea was not crowned with success. Despite the numerical advantage of the troops (5 times), the Chinese were defeated in Manchuria and near Harbin.

The little-known war of 1939

These events not covered in the history books are also called the Soviet-Japanese war. The fighting near the Khalkin-Gol River in 1939 continued from spring to autumn.

In the spring, numerous Japanese troops set foot on Mongolian territory to mark a new border between Mongolia and Manchukuo, which would run along the Khalkhin Gol River. At this time, Soviet troops came to the aid of friendly Mongolia.

Futile attempts

The combined army of Russia and Mongolia gave a powerful rebuff to Japan, and in May the Japanese troops were forced to retreat to the territory of China, but did not give up. The next blow from the Land of the Rising Sun was more thoughtful: the number of soldiers increased to 40 thousand, heavy equipment, aircraft and guns were brought to the borders. The new military formation was three times larger than the Soviet-Mongolian troops, but after three days of bloodshed, the Japanese troops were again forced to retreat.

Another offensive took place in August. By that time, the Soviet Army had also strengthened and unleashed all its military might on the Japanese. Half of September, the Japanese invaders tried to take revenge, but the outcome of the battle was obvious - the USSR won this conflict.

winter war

On November 30, 1939, a war broke out between the USSR and Finland, the purpose of which was to secure Leningrad by moving the northwestern border. After the USSR signed a non-aggression pact with Germany, the latter started a war with Poland, and relations in Finland began to heat up. The pact assumed the expansion of the influence of the USSR on Finland. The government of the Soviet Union understood that Leningrad, which was located 30 kilometers from the border with Finland, could fall under artillery fire, and therefore it was decided to move the border to the north.

The Soviet side first tried to negotiate peacefully by offering Finland the lands of Karelia, but the country's government did not want to negotiate.

As the first stage of the battle showed, the Soviet Army was weak, the leadership saw its real combat power. Starting the war, the government of the USSR naively believed that it had a strong army at its disposal, but this was not so. During the war, many personnel and organizational changes were carried out, thanks to which the course of the war also changed. It also made it possible to prepare a combat-ready army for the Second World War.

Echoes of World War II

1941-1945 is a battle between Germany and the USSR within the boundaries of World War II. The battle ended with the victory of the Soviet Union over fascism and put an end to World War II.

After Germany lost the First World War, its economic and political situation was very unstable. When Hitler came to power, the country managed to build up military power. The Fuhrer did not want to admit and wanted to take revenge.

But the unexpected attack on the USSR did not give the desired result - the Soviet Army turned out to be better equipped than Hitler expected. The campaign, which was designed for several months, stretched out for several years and lasted from June 22, 1941 to May 9, 1945.

After the end of the Great Patriotic War, the USSR did not conduct active military operations for 11 years. Later there was (1969), fighting in Algeria (1962-1964), Afghanistan (1979-1989) and the Chechen wars (already in Russia, 1994-1996, 1999-2009). And only one question remains unresolved: were these ridiculous battles worth the human cost? It is hard to believe that people in the civilized world have not learned to negotiate and compromise.

20th century

1. War with the Japanese Empire in 1904-1905.

2. World War I 1914-1918.

Defeat, a change in the political system, the beginning of a civil war, territorial losses, about 2 million 200 thousand people died and went missing. The population decline was approximately 5 million people. Russia's material losses amounted to approximately 100 billion US dollars in 1918 prices.

3. Civil war 1918-1922.

The establishment of the Soviet system, the return of part of the lost territories, according to approximate data, from 240 to 500 thousand people died and went missing from the Red Army, at least 175 thousand people died and went missing in the White Army, the total losses for the civilian population years of civil war amounted to about 2.5 million people. The decline in population amounted to approximately 4 million people. Material losses are estimated at approximately 25-30 billion US dollars in 1920 prices.

4. Soviet-Polish war of 1919-1921.

According to Russian researchers, about 100 thousand people died or went missing.

5. Military conflict between the USSR and the Empire of Japan in the Far East and participation in the Japanese-Mongolian war of 1938-1939.

About 15 thousand people died and went missing.

6. Soviet-Finnish war of 1939-1940.

Territorial acquisitions, about 85 thousand people died and went missing.

7. In 1923-1941, the USSR participated in the civil war in China and in the war between China and the Empire of Japan. And in 1936-1939 in the Spanish Civil War.

About 500 people died or went missing.

8. The Soviet occupation of the territories of Western Ukraine and Western Belarus, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia in 1939 under the terms of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Treaty (Pact) with Nazi Germany on non-aggression and the division of Eastern Europe of August 23, 1939.

The irretrievable losses of the Red Army in Western Ukraine and Western Belarus amounted to about 1,500 people. There are no data on losses in Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia.

Territorial acquisitions in East Prussia (Kaliningrad region) and in the Far East as a result of the war with the Japanese Empire (part of Sakhalin Island and the Kuril Islands), total irretrievable losses in the army and among the civilian population from 20 million to 26 million people. The material losses of the USSR amounted, according to various estimates, from 2 to 3 trillion US dollars in 1945 prices.

10. Civil war in China 1946-1945.

About 1,000 military and civilian specialists, officers, sergeants and privates perished, died from wounds and diseases.

11. Korean Civil War 1950-1953.

Killed, died from wounds and diseases about 300 military personnel, mostly officers-pilots.

12. During the participation of the USSR in the Vietnam War of 1962-1974, in the military conflicts of the second half of the 20th century in Africa and the countries of Central and South America, in the Arab-Israeli wars from 1967 to 1974, in the suppression of the 1956 uprising in Hungary and 1968 in Czechoslovakia, as well as in border conflicts with China, about 3,000 people died. from among military and civilian specialists, officers, sergeants and privates.

13. War in Afghanistan 1979-1989.

About 15,000 people perished, died from wounds and diseases, went missing. from among military and civilian specialists, officers, sergeants and privates. The total costs of the USSR for the war in Afghanistan are estimated at about 70-100 billion US dollars in 1990 prices. The main result: The change of the political system and the collapse of the USSR with the withdrawal of 14 union republics from it.

Results:

Over the 20th century, the Russian Empire and the USSR took part in 5 major wars on their territory, of which World War I, Civil War and World War II can be safely attributed to mega-large ones.

The total number of losses of the Russian Empire and the USSR in wars and armed conflicts over the 20th century is estimated at approximately 30 to 35 million people, taking into account civilian losses from hunger and epidemics caused by the war.

The total cost of the material losses of the Russian Empire and the USSR is estimated at approximately 8 to 10 trillion US dollars in 2000 prices.

14. War in Chechnya 1994-2000.

There are no official exact numbers of combat and civilian losses killed, dead from wounds and diseases, and missing on both sides. The total combat losses on the Russian side are estimated at 10 thousand people. according to experts, up to 20-25 thousand, according to the estimates of the Union of Committees of Soldiers' Mothers. The total combat irretrievable losses of the Chechen rebels are estimated at between 10,000 and 15,000 people. The irretrievable losses of the civilian population of the Chechen and Russian-speaking population, including ethnic cleansing among the Russian-speaking population, are estimated at approximate figures from 1,000 according to official Russian data to 50,000 people according to unofficial data from human rights organizations. Exact material losses are not known, but there are rough estimates suggesting a total loss of at least US$20 billion in 2000 prices.