Why is WWI signigicant?

Why is WWI so significant today – nearly 100 years later?

World War One began with a minor assassination in a long-forgotten empire in Europe. Yet it was to become history's first truly global conflict. It embroiled (involved) some 30 countries across five continents and was fought on a scale never before.

An estimated 13,000,000 soldiers died or went missing. Europe lost almost an entire generation of men. Unknown numbers of civilians lay dead.
Almost overnight, empires that had taken centuries to build were gone. Cities had been demolished and homes destroyed. The USA had transformed itself into a world power. The way war was fought changed forever. Women now held jobs that in the past had been done exclusively by men. Many more women had joined the military. People travelled to places they could not even pronounce. Yes, the face of the world had changed, and the “War to End All Wars” became the first in a long line of wars to come.

Those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it.
Source: http://computasaur.tripod.com/ww1/


To summarise, WWI is significant because...
- history's first truly global conflict
- estimated 13million soldiers died
- USA had transformed itself into a world power
- empires that had taken centuries to build were gone
- more women had joined the military
- women now held jobs that in the past had been done exclusively by men