The First World War was fought over a century ago, its pursuit by the European powers utterly reckless and ending with great consequential misfortune for humanity. Four generations later, the "Great War" has been forgotten by most Americans. The European and Commonwealth nations staged elaborate and moving commemorations during the centennial years of 2014 to 2018 to remember the shared sacrifices and enormity of the war. The general lack of such events in the United States marked the stark difference between how Americans and their allies looked back on that calamity.

The European and Commonwealth response to the war's anniversary showed an awareness of how the First World War shaped the future, giving rise to new ideologies, technologies, and geopolitical forces that fundamentally influenced the 20th century. The First World War ended so badly that 20 years later it spawned an even more catastrophic global conflict in the Second World War. The ideological divides created by the First World War still haunt us today. Over the last century, the reckless decision to wage a global conflict in 1914 impacted our lives and our ways of perceiving the world, although that perception is clouded in the United States. This is ironic, since the 20th century was indeed the American Century, in large part because of US engagement in the First World War.