World War I

Industrial killing on an unprecedented scale — the war that ended European supremacy and birthed the modern world's nightmares.

10 million soldiers dead, empires dissolved, revolutions triggered. WWI destroyed the 19th-century order and created the conditions for fascism, communism, and WWII.

Perspective

WWI is the great hinge of modern history. Everything before it had a certain optimism about progress; everything after is haunted by the knowledge that "civilized" nations can do this to each other. The generals used 19th-century tactics with 20th-century weapons. The result was meat grinders like Verdun and the Somme.