A pointless war that set in motion much of what made the Twentieth Century so terrible for liberty finally came to an end:
At a service in Verdun, north-east France, President Nicolas Sarkozy paid tribute to the millions who died during the four-year conflict.
French and German troops fought for eight months at Verdun in the longest battle of a war that reshaped Europe.
In London, three of the four surviving British World War I veterans attended a ceremony at the Cenotaph.
Henry Allingham, 112, Harry Patch, 110, and Bill Stone, 108, represented the RAF, Army and Royal Navy respectively.
At 1100 GMT, a two-minute silence was observed, marking the time – at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month – when the Armistice Treaty came into effect to end the war.
World War I was the world’s first industrialised war.
It toppled four European empires, led to the creation of the Soviet Union, and marked the end of Europe’s long global hegemony.
And 20 years, 9 months, and 21 days after it ended, death and destruction once again rained on Europe.
