War, Disillusionment, Literature, and the Divine

The war to end all wars ushered in drastic changes to art and poetry. “Gassed,” 1919, by John Singer Sargent. Imperial War Museum London. Public Domain

This year marks the centennial of the Treaty of Versailles, formally ending World War I, that bloodbath which took millions of lives, broke apart empires, and spawned the evil realities of fascism and communism.

That war also acted as an accelerant to the flames already eating away at Western culture.