World War I History Is Wrong, and Skewing Our View of China

World War I was the war that made the 20th century. It introduced humanity to the horrific potential for mass slaughter in the industrial age. It broke an international system that had prevailed for nearly 100 years, since Napoleon’s defeat. It turbocharged the toxic ideologies — fascism and communism — and the geopolitical tensions that made the 20th century an age of conflict.

Not coincidentally, the conflict also powerfully shaped our understanding of how the world works.