"Common Christianity—and Europe was overwhelmingly Christian by profession in 1914 and strongly Christian in observance also"

The World the Great War Swept Away: In 1914, Europe was prosperous and what followed was unimaginable

Western Europe hadn’t had a big and costly ground war since 1871. Maybe they forgot what war was. Surely some would have liked the drama and excitement—the interruption in normality, the break in the boring dailiness of life. Or the air of possibility war brings—of valor, for instance, and shown courage. Camaraderie, too, and a sense of romantic engagement with history. A sense of something to live for—victory. Once a few years ago a reporter who had covered wars talked about this with a brilliant, accomplished, famously leftist editor in New York. At the end of a conversation on a recent conflict the reporter said, quizzically: “Why is there so much war? Why do we do that?” “Because something’s wrong with us,” the editor replied. I told him it was the best definition of original sin I’d ever heard.