Key Treaties and Alliances of World War I
**Balkan Wars**
The Balkan Wars were two conflicts that occurred in 1912 and 1913 between the Balkan countries of Serbia, Bulgaria, and Greece. They were caused by the decline of the Ottoman Empire. Serbia and, indirectly, Russia were the big winners.
**The Schlieffen Plan**
The Schlieffen Plan was a system of military operations against France, devised by Count Alfred von Schlieffen, Chief of the German General Staff, in 1905. It aimed for a quick defeat of France by attacking through Belgium and Luxembourg. It was implemented in 1914.
**Submarine Warfare**
Submarine warfare took place during the war of attrition in 1916, after the start of the First World War. It was driven by the desire for sea control. The naval blockade forced Germany to attempt to attack the British fleet. Both fleets fought the Battle of Jutland, where the Germans withdrew due to the obvious British superiority. German ships did not leave their ports afterward.
**Treaty of Brest-Litovsk**
The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was a peace agreement signed on March 3, 1918, between Bolshevik Russia and the Central Powers (Austria-Hungary and Germany), which marked Russia’s exit from the Great War. The Bolshevik Party opposed it because of German demands, including the recognition of the independence of Finland, Poland, and Ukraine, and the permanence of German troops in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Ukraine. This peace enabled the Soviets to use their military forces against internal rebellions.
**Triple Entente**
The Triple Entente was a diplomatic and military cooperation established between France, Great Britain, and Russia in 1907. It was an extension of the Entente Cordiale signed by Britain and France in 1904 and served as a diplomatic counterweight to the partnerships established by Germany. It became a military alliance on September 3, 1914. At the start of World War I, it went into operation against the armies of the Triple Alliance.
**Treaty of Versailles**
The Treaty of Versailles was a peace agreement signed on June 28, 1919, between the victorious Allies of World War I and Germany. The most outstanding clauses were:
- The loss of all German colonies, which were placed under the mandate of the League of Nations.
- The cession of Alsace and Lorraine to France.
- The demilitarization of the Rhineland.
- The prohibition of the union of Austria and Germany.
- The payment of reparations to the Allies as indemnification.
- The limitation of Germany’s military capability.
The treaty was poorly received by Germany, and its terms were used as a weapon by the right and extreme right.
**League of Nations**
The League of Nations was an international organization created in 1919 at the request of the victorious Allies of World War I. Its main objective was to resolve disputes between countries and preserve peace. Its main instigator was U.S. President Woodrow Wilson. It had its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. It failed in the major conflicts of the 1930s, such as the invasions of Ethiopia by Italy, China by Japan, and Finland by the USSR.
**Triple Alliance**
The Triple Alliance was a political and diplomatic agreement, promoted by Bismarck in 1882, between Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy, seeking to isolate France in the event of a possible war. This partnership was completed by the secret pact of the Dual Alliance established between Germany and Austria-Hungary in 1879. The so-called Bismarckian system, organized against Russia and France, foreshadowed the alliance system that became operational during World War I.