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For I marched to the battles of the German trench
In a war that was bound to end all wars
Oh, I must have killed a million men
And now they want me back again
But I ain’t marching anymore

It’s always the old to lead us to the wars
Always the young to fall
Now look at all we’ve won with the saber and the gun
Tell me, is it worth it all?

— Phil Ochs

Personally I don’t know any ordinary citizen who is “giddy” about the start of World War 3. But maybe we travel in different circles. As to government, yes, we have a war making regime in power, and they have been excited about it. Biden can’t wait to bill himself as “a wartime president.” Clinton was sorry he didn’t have a war to fight and establish some kind of historical legacy, but unfortunately for him, there was too much peace going on after the end of the Cold War. To be fair, GW Bush fell for the same aspiration. After 9/11 he even announced it himself so there would be no doubt. “I consider myself a wartime president.” So yes, in these days, government thrives on war even while citizens perish.

In WWI, many of the larger Indian tribes in the US were very enthusiastic about enlisting in the US Army. And some with more organized governments made a *separate* Declaration of War against the Central Powers.

When the Armistice was declared, at least one of these tribes did not agree and so technically, if quietly, they remained at war, unknown to everyone else. But when WWII was declared, they jumped back on board the war wagon.

Otherwise, other reservations already had long lines waiting for the recruiters to show up.

In Flanders Fields
BY JOHN MCCRAE

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

Yeah, come on all of you big strong men,
Uncle Sam needs your help again.
He’s got himself in a terrible jam
Way down yonder in Vietnam
So put down your books and pick up a gun,
We’re gonna have a whole lotta fun.

And it’s one, two, three,
What are we fighting for?
Don’t ask me, I don’t give a damn,
Next stop is Vietnam;
And it’s five, six, seven,
Open up the pearly gates,
Well there ain’t no time to wonder why,
Whoopee! we’re all gonna die.

Well, come on generals, let’s move fast;
Your big chance has come at last.
Gotta go out and get those reds -
The only good commie is the one who’s dead
And you know that peace can only be won
When we’ve blown ‘em all to Kingdom Come.

Huh!

Well, come on Wall Street, don’t move slow,
Why man, this is War-a-go-go.
There’s plenty good money to be made
By supplying the Army with the tools of the trade,
Just hope and pray that if they drop the bomb,
They drop it on the Viet Cong.

And it’s one, two, three,
What are we fighting for?
Don’t ask me, I don’t give a damn,
Next stop is Vietnam.
And it’s five, six, seven,
Open up the pearly gates,
Well there ain’t no time to wonder why
Whoopee! we’re all gonna die.

Well, come on mothers throughout the land,
Pack your boys off to Vietnam.
Come on fathers, don’t hesitate,
Send ‘em off before it’s too late.
Be the first one on your block
To have your boy come home in a box.

And it’s one, two, three
What are we fighting for?
Don’t ask me, I don’t give a damn,
Next stop is Vietnam.
And it’s five, six, seven,
Open up the pearly gates,
Well there ain’t no time to wonder why,
Whoopee! we’re all gonna die.

I’m going to put up a contrarian view — the world as we know it would not have existed if there wasn’t a World War one.

1914 - the world is still under empires.

No WWI then most likely Central Europe gets Germanized/Russified. And neither of those powers gave any reign to individual liberty.

No WWII - or at least no Darwinian-based race ideology wars.

The world would be completely, utterly different - not necessarily good nor bad, but just different