A century of material progress and growing prosperity led the nations of western Europe to believe that they were in the vanguard of a new and peaceful world order. But their economic rivalries, backed by growing military establishments, finally degenerated to an extreme level of barbarity. World War I rocked the political balance of Europe, interrupted its economic growth, and decimated a generation of its youth. It began the disintegration of the colonial system that had seemed so permanent in 1914. It also launched communism as a world force. World War I, Updated Edition provides a concise, highly readable portrait of this great conflict, with an emphasis on the critical role played in it by the United States. New box features cover topics such as the efforts of women pacifists; the day-to-day realities of trench warfare; and the uses Hollywood made of the war.