The war fronts: the background

After the declarations of war, which took place when the heir to the Habsburg throne was assassinated in Sarajevo, the European powers took sides on opposite sides.

http://www.oilproject.org/lezione/riassunto-prima-guerra-m Mondiale-battaglia-verdun-somme-dardanelli-7190.html In the video-lesson at this link you can discover many interesting details in a good summary.

The Triple Alliance (Austro-Hungarian Empire, German Empire, Italy), was a defensive pact that had been stipulated in 1882.

On the basis of this pact, Italy could refuse to go to war immediately, alongside the "allies", given that the war had been declared by Austria: therefore it was no longer a defensive alliance, but an offensive alliance.

In Italy there was a controversy between those who wanted to go to war with the Triple Entente (Great Britain, France, the Russian Empire) and those who wanted to refrain from doing so (the party of the "neutralists").

The first won and on May 24, 1915 Italy entered the war with the Entente, withdrawing from the Triple Alliance which had always been seen as absurd, given that throughout the nineteenth century the kingdom of the Savoy had fought the Austrians.

Essentially they wanted to reconquer those Italian lands that had not been freed by the three wars of independence (Trento, Trieste, Istria, Dalmatia and Dodecanese).

For this reason, the First World War is considered by some historians (past) as "the fourth war of Independence".

The Ottoman Empire entered the war against the Entente in October 1914.

At the end of 1914 we therefore have three war fronts: the western, eastern and southern fronts.

We won't talk about the southern front because it was essentially a political issue.

As for the important personalities that you can remember in this context, we advise you to watch "Lawrence of Arabia": from this extraordinary film you will be able to understand a lot about the reasons why the British fought the Turks and supported the Arabs.

Finally, you must remember that the Russian Revolution occurred in 1917: the Russian Empire withdrew from the conflict, to try to annihilate the great revolution that Lenin had brought into his heart (failing) and the Eastern front closed.

For this reason, the Caporetto disaster occurred (see page on this event).

Also in 1917 the USA entered the war, definitively deciding the outcome.