History of the First World War 1914–1918. – one of the most unthought pages of the military-historical past. This war was a true prologue to the history of “catastrophes” of the 20th century, determined the main vectors of the political, economic and cultural development of the planet, “dramatically changed the face of Russia, posing a number of large-scale problems for our country that remain relevant today.” Russian, German, The Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman Empires ceased to exist. Dozens of national states emerged, embarking on a thorny path of development. There was a kind of “reset” of the understanding of the place and role of man on planet Earth. More than ten million people were killed and died from wounds, twice as many were maimed, millions died from hunger and disease; the war claimed as many human lives as all European wars for a whole millennium before it.