World War I (1914–1918) and World War II (1939–1945)

World War I and World War II were two of the most significant global conflicts in history, with profound impacts on the world and the people who lived through them.

World War I, which lasted from 1914 to 1918, was a global conflict that involved many of the world's major powers. The war began with the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary by a Serbian nationalist, and quickly escalated as alliances were invoked and countries began mobilizing for war. The war was fought on multiple fronts, with significant battles taking place in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. Trench warfare, chemical weapons, and new technologies such as tanks and airplanes made the war particularly brutal, resulting in millions of deaths and significant destruction of infrastructure and property.

World War II, which lasted from 1939 to 1945, was an even more destructive global conflict that involved most of the world's major powers. The war began with the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany and quickly escalated as other countries joined the conflict. The war was fought on multiple fronts, with significant battles taking place in Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Pacific. The war saw the use of new technologies such as radar, jet engines, and atomic bombs, and resulted in tens of millions of deaths, including the genocide of millions of Jews, Romani people, and others by the Nazi regime.

Both World War I and World War II had profound impacts on the world, both in terms of the loss of life and the destruction of infrastructure, and in terms of the social, political, and economic changes that occurred in their wake. The wars led to the decline of many of the world's empires, the rise of new world powers such as the United States and the Soviet Union, and the formation of new international organizations such as the United Nations. The wars also had significant cultural impacts, with many artists and writers reflecting on the horror and trauma of war in their work.