World War I History Is Wrong, and Skewing Our View of China
Nobody “stumbles” into war unaware — in 1914 or today — which is something to bear in mind as great-power rivals grow increasingly aggressive.
Circa 1917: Allied soldiers in the British sector climb out of a trench during World War I, Ypres, Belgium.
Source: Hulton Archive/Archive Photos
World War I was the war that made the 20th century. It introduced humanity to the horrific potential for mass slaughter in the industrial age. It broke an international system that had prevailed for nearly 100 years, since Napoleon’s defeat. It turbocharged the toxic ideologies — fascism and communism — and the geopolitical tensions that made the 20th century an age of conflict.
Not coincidentally, the conflict also powerfully shaped our understanding of how the world works.