Robert Pirsig (author of the book ZEN AND THE ART OF MOTORCYCLE MAINTENANCE) wrote a book called LILA. In this book, he argues that WWI destroyed The Victorian Era and gave us The Roaring 20s. He wrote that the Soldiers and their families blamed The Victorians for the horrific losses of WWI. Can you imagine one nation suffering 20,000 dead in one day at one battle?
The West turned 180 degrees and started living the “Anything goes!” life.
I think there is a real correlation to this and what happened to the United States after The Vietnam War. The LEAVE IT TO BEAVER world gave way to the SEX, DRUGS, VIOLENCE AND ROCK AND ROLL world.
We see the effects of WWI and Vietnam to this day.
Perhaps the biggest winners were the socialists/communists.
In a world where anything goes, millions of dead foreigners didn’t matter.
That is why it is so important to find and develop the best military leaders. Poor military leaders affect the entire nation.
And 40,000 wounded on the same day!
Edwardian intellectuals were already taking the hatchet to the Victorians, usual inter-generational war. Lytton Strachey hatched his idea of his hit piece “Eminent Victorians” before the Great War stated. But the Great War took it to another level.