Answer: One hundred years ago Sunday, the Allies and Germany agreed to an armistice ending World War I. The Great War claimed 40 million lives — but also serves as an unexpected pivot point for modern civilization.
“World War I is an amazingly important and underappreciated moment in history,” said Nicholas J. Cull, a historian in the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.
“The war ended when people were able to articulate a vision of the future, an optimism about how things were going to be better with nations working together.”
The war also rewrote the world map. Russia quit the war as domestic unrest triggered the Bolshevik revolution, the rise of Communism, and the Cold War. The Middle East changed with the defeat of Turkey and Britain’s pledge for a Jewish state in Palestine. The Western powers, fatigued by war, yielded to isolationism and appeasement as the Third Reich emerged, triggering World War II and the Holocaust.
Step-by-step explanation: