The First World War wasn't just the Western Front; there was an Eastern Front too. Germany and Russia fought each other in a conflict that involved far few trenches, but involved far more death and horror.
Germany lost around 2.7 million of its people, but that was across both fronts. The Russian Empire lost at least 1.7 million, but many unit records were lost and in any event, the whole thing merged into the Russian Civil War that followed the October Revolution of 1917.
I visited Latvia in September and one of the places I went to was the Latvian War Museum, now closed for refurbishment.
To put it mildly, Latvia had a pretty nasty war - they were invaded and ultimately occupied by Germany. Much of their industry was destroyed and many fled to Russia, not returning. However, it also proved a key part of their national awakening. In a dire position, the Russians allowed the creation of dedicated all-Latvian units, which become known as the Latvian Riflemen. Volunteers flocked to join the units and they fought bravely against the Germans, but often did not receive the support that they needed to make their gains sustainable, so they ended up taking heavy losses for little advancement. Following the war, Latvia then declared independence, having to fight for it against the now Soviet Russia from 1918 to 1920, many of the Soviet invaders themselves being Latvians themselves who had sided with the Bolsheviks.
More can be found here and here.
Latvia would gain its freedom, but history was to repeat itself; invaded by the USSR in 1940 and annexed via a sham election, it was then invaded again by Germany in 1941, becoming a key killing ground in the "Holocaust by bullets". Latvians forced into the SS fought Latvians in the Red Army and when the latter won, Latvia would spend another 45 years as a Soviet republic. Now the country fortifies its eastern borders against the possibility of another Russian invasion, with air raid shelters marked out and an app set up to notify people of any possible attack.
It's a sad reflection of our world that "the war to end all wars", even if it brought freedom for some nations who had not had it before, spawned other wars and conflicts that are still going on today.
It will take hard work indeed to prevent a Third World War. I wish all genuine peacemakers the very best success.
Mēs viņus atcerēsimies.
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