World War I

World War I 1914—1918 — a huge fire that engulfed most countries and continents in the early 20th century. This global conflict changed the lives of all people on the planet, completely redrew the political map of Europe, brought unprecedented destruction, and resulted in the death of tens of millions of people. In the fire of the Great War, four world empires ceased to exist: the Russian, Austro-Hungarian, German, and Ottoman Empires. The book by eyewitness and participant of those years, Andrey Medardovich Zayontchkovsky (1862—1926), will reveal the truth of an eyewitness to contemporary readers. A professional military man, a participant in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904—1905, a famous theorist and practitioner of military affairs, whose merits were recognized with orders, medals, and the Golden Weapon “For Bravery,” A. M. Zayontchkovsky knew about the secret mechanisms that ignited the bloody fire of the world war, and even more so about its battles and confrontations not by hearsay. He survived — and created an outstanding work on the course of the war, on the fields where he had to fight. This publication of the work of A. M. Zayontchkovsky is dedicated to the 110th anniversary of World War I. It includes an additional section “Preparation for World War,” published by the author in 1926 and not reprinted since; maps and diagrams created by Colonel of the General Staff of the Russian Empire, one of the first commanders of the Red Army, Alexander Nikolayevich De Lazari for the first edition and for the atlas “World Imperialist War 1914—1918.” This edition is richly illustrated with photographs from state and personal archives, as well as rare documentary materials from foreign archives and funds.