Read: The Key Battles of World War I

Photo credits: National Media Museum

Other than Ross' The Causes of World War I, I read yet another book about World War I. It was David Taylor's Key Battles of World War I.

This book focused on how the major battles of World War I were fought. As I read the book, it reminded me how absurd war can be. If the masses had known how dreadful and meaningless it was to fight the war, would the war have stopped earlier?

To be honest, most of the battles mentioned in the book were new to me. I realised how little I know about the history of Europe. There is so much to learn in this world that I should learn to use my time more meaningfully.

From this book, I read about the Gallipoli Campaign. I realised that the date of landing at Gallipoli (i.e. 25 April 1915) is made a national public holiday in Australia and New Zealand to honour members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps who fought at Gallipoli in Turkey during World War I.

The book lent me more insights to the trench warfare that was used during World War I. It described the conditions in the trenches. It made me wonder: If the key people in power had made it necessary that they themselves must fight the war in the front-line trenches, would they have then considered peace negotiation instead of continuing to fight a dreadful war that involved so much casualties?

If there is anything we should learn from history, it is to learn the value of peace and the absurdity of war.

May peace prevail.