Only when the outbreak of the Great War in 1914 engendered revolution, destroyed empires and unleashed the US as a world power did the 20th century really begin to take shape.

• 只有当1914年第一次世界大战的爆发在各国引发革命、推翻帝制、孕育了美国这个新的世界强国之后，20世纪的格局才真正开始成形。