WW1 was the war that broke the back of four major world Empires, wiped out almost an entire generation of young men, and the grievances that resulted from the end of the war carried over and lead directly to the start of WW2, so much so that some consider both wars a single event, at the least WW2 was the continuation of WW1. Even the victors of that war, bar the Americans, were left unsatisfied with the end result.
In any case, the industrial scale slaughter of men on the battlefields of Europe using modern weapons which made their first appearance was unprecedented in history and since then warfare has become more mechanized, less personal and more dehumanized in terms of the increasing use of machines. The warrior tradition has been in decline ever since. In that sense it was indeed the last
chivalrous war, but definitely not in the sense that that term is most commonly used, ie pertaining to deliberate warfare against civilian populations which
did take place in the form of blockades used by both Central Powers and Allies, most notably the British bloackade of German ports which continued well after the armistice in 1918 and into 1919 leading to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of civilians.
WW1 was also the triumph of Liberal Democracy over the "old" order represented by the central powers (and Czarist Russia, which was in the allied camp however)
Also, as some members pointed out, the participation of British colonial troops, particularly from the Indian subcontinent, is underrated.
Reminds me of the passage within Ernst Jungers book
Storm of Steel, one of two well known memoirs on the Great War from the German perspective (the other being the overblown
All Quite On The Western Front) wherein Jungers unit encounters Indian troops in France:
"In the tall grass we discovered a line of dead and three wounded who threw themselves at our feet and begged us for mercy. They seemed to be convinced that we would massacre them. In answer to my question 'Quelle nation?' one replied: 'Pauvre Rajput!'"
"... Their outfit was the First Hariana Lancers, a good regiment, I'm told."
@Psychic @Nilgiri @Gomig-21 @LeGenD @Metanoia
LOL.
