“War does not determine who is right – only who is left. ”
– Bertrand Russell
Much as Russell surmised, the course of World War I culminated in loss. A study of the treaties, battles, technology, and ideological grounds shows much about the political, military, and diplomatic conditions that prevailed during World War I.
Major Treaties Signed
The major alliances of World War I centered around two treaties:
The Triple Alliance
The Triple Entente
The armistices of Compiègne and Villa Giusti marked the end of the war on the Western Front and on the Italian Front. These were followed by a number of historically significant peace treaties including:
Treaty of Versailles
Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye
Treaty of Neuilly-sur-Seine
Treaty of Trianon
Treaty of Sèvres
These peace treaties were drafted at the Paris Peace Conference of 1919.
Principal Theaters Of Battle
The principal theaters of battle of World War I were:
Western Front: Major battles fought along the Western Front include the Battle of the Marne, the Battles of Ypres, the Battle of the Somme, the Battle of Verdun, and the Battle of Passchendale.
Eastern Front: Major battles fought along the Eastern Front include the Battle of Tannenberg, the Battles of Masurian Lakes, and the Battle of Riga.
Italian Front: Major battles of this theater include the twelve battles of the Isonzo River, including the Battle of Caporetto.
Gallipoli Peninsula: Operations in Gallipoli lasted from February 1915 through January 1916. This was the result of a failure on the part of the British Navy to force a route through the Dardanelles.
Naval Warfare: Britain and Germany were long involved in a race for the supremacy of their respective navies. The naval wars of World War I were the outcome of their fierce rivalry. The Battle of Jutland was the most important naval battle fought in World War I.
Major Battles
The battles of World War I were costly in terms of causalities. The top ten battles of World War I noted for their magnitude were:
Race to the Sea