In Search of Lost Time: A View of Contemporary Historiography on the Origins of the First World War

Abstract

The hundredth anniversary of the start of the First World War (The Great War as it was once called, and as it is against referred to more frequently today) is an opportunity for the modern world to once again focus its attention on the beginning of the war that was one of the largest tectonic shifts in modern history. These shifts marked the beginning of the twentieth century, and paved the way for - and perhaps even caused - many of the evils of that century and left consequences which can still be felt. Moreover, the claim that this war, from the aspect of the consequences, has still not ended in some parts of the world is not entirely unconvincing.