For the Western Allies, November 11, 1918 was always an important date, marking the end of a war that had decimated a generation and the vindication of their tremendous sacrifices with the complete collapse of the main enemies, the German, Austro-Hungarian, and Ottoman Empires. However, for much of the rest of Europe, it was a day without significance, as one country after another was engulfed in nightmarish conflicts.

In this exceptionally original and captivating book, Robert Gerwarth invites us to reconsider the true legacy of World War I. The period immediately following the war proved to be catastrophic for the future of Europe, as countries that belonged to both warring camps were ravaged by revolutions, pogroms, mass expulsions, and new significant military conflicts. While in most places the Great War was a confrontation between state armies, in these new conflicts civilians and paramilitary forces were mainly involved. Millions of people died in central, eastern, and southeastern Europe to establish the USSR and a series of weak and exhausted small new states. Everywhere there were people who wanted revenge on real and imaginary enemies, as their lives were poisoned by a sense of injustice. Just a decade later, the rise of the Third Reich and other totalitarian regimes gave them the opportunity they sought.