The Great War's Effect on the Early Modern Era
World War I, or the Great War, was one of the most catastrophic events to happen in the 20th century. The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand set off a dense chain-reaction of political rivalries and alliances through all of Europe and Asia like throwing a bowling ball into a room full of mousetraps. From Serbia to Germany to the United States to the Ottoman Empire to Australia, the only continent on the planet left unscathed by the conflict was Antarctica. John Singer Sargent, Gassed , 1919, Oil on Canvas One of the most horrific factors in WWI was the invention of chemical warfare, specifically the use of bis(2-chloroethyl) sulfide, or mustard gas, depicted above in John Singer Sargent's Gassed , painted 1919 in London. Gassed was commissioned in 1918 by the British War Memorials Committee for the Hall of Remembrance, a series of artworks created to memorialize the lives lost in the Great War. The painting depicts a line of wounded soldiers surrounded by d