In this article, Gerard DeGroot talks about the impact that World War I had on the world. World powers rose and fell. Modern warfare techniques were used and the romanticism of former warfare died. In Mr. DeGroot's words, "The war is best seen as a massive earthquake that permanently altered the social and political landscape of the world. Its aftershocks still rumble."

An excerpt: "Nothing is bigger than a world at war. One hundred years ago, a monster took hold of Europe, rending it in ways that no other war over thousands of years of history had ever done.

"For most Europeans, the Great War, which began innocuously with a Serbian nationalist’s assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria in June 1914, represented the end of splendor and the beginning of mediocrity. 'This is going to be our evil inheritance,' wrote Italian soldier Paolo Monelli."

Access the entire article at csmonitor.com.

World War I's Lasting Bootprint