Editor's note

What have been the most significant world political events of the past century? Everyone will have their own ideas about this, of course. But what we were looking for, in our 10-part series starting today, was the political events that were of huge global significance at the time, but also have implications now. We talked to academics in poltics and history, and came up with a collection that includes the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Deng’s rise to power, the fall of the Berlin Wall, the end of apartheid, the Holocaust and the September 11 terrorist attacks. They will be explored in coming days.

Today, though, we begin our series with Romain Fathi examining the Great War - the so-called “war to end all wars”. Fathi writes that understanding the first world war is an exercise in comprehending the depth of human commitment to destruction, violence and resilience. But it also reminds us of the fragility of peace, and our duty to remain vigilant on nationalism.

Amanda Dunn

Section Editor: Politics + Society

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Understanding the first world war is thus an exercise in comprehending the depth of human commitment to destruction, violence and resilience at a scale never experienced before 1914. BNF France

World politics explainer: The Great War (WWI)

Romain Fathi, Flinders University

More than 16 million people lost their lives in world war one. Over a century later, we are still asking – for what?

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