World War One In the introduction to a recent survey of the origins of World War I, the author begins with a quote from British scholar C. V. Wedgwood: "The war solved no problems. Its effects, both immediate and indirect, were either negative or disastrous. Morally subversive, economically destructive, socially degrading, confused in its causes, devious in its course, futile in its result, it is the outstanding example in European history of meaningless conflict." Although Wedgewood was not