But it’s been 100 years since the First World War, so they’d all be dead any way and it was a stupid war, right? They matter partly because the First World War shaped the modern world decisively, far more than the second. Such reflections tend to underline the notion that the Great War was a shameful venture, fought stupidly for stupid reasons, with gratuitously disastrous results. The Great War was a bloody shambles. So we care about the Great War because it shaped the modern world.

Source: National Post October 24, 2016 03:56 UTC