ABSTRACT
World War I is overshadowed in the modern consciousness by World War II, but the psychological and geopolitical impact of the former conflict was every bit as shattering as the latter. Terrible new weapons made their first appearance during this war, venerable empires collapsed, new countries were born, and ethnic conflicts broke out that have not been resolved to this day. World War I led to disillusionment among Europeans and Americans regarding assumptions of progress, rationality, and the supremacy of Western civilization, and it triggered an unprecedented wave of religious and political activism in the Muslim world.
