Since 1867, the balance of power in Europe had been stable but in the 1900s, nationalism, alliances and imperialism helped to bring about the downfall of the balance.
World War I was supposed to be the war to end all wars because it was so devestating. The Germans fought a war on two fronts, one which stalled in the trenches outside of Paris and the other in the East with the Russians. In the middle of the war, Russia collapsed because of a revolution.
Technological advances, economic contributions from a number of allies, the inclusion of almost all European countries and the US led people to think that war could not get any worse.
100 years later, we know that war is terrible and we remember those who fought. Many fought with outdated tactics against new technologies while others were unclear as to why they were at war. Whatever reason the men of 1914 went to war, 37 million lost their lives between 1914 and 1918.
At the Tower of London, an art installation is slowly being installed called Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red. It will consist of 888,246 poppies flowing out of the Tower and into the dry moat to remember the men who died while serving Great Britian.
Very interesting
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