2016 | OriginalPaper | Chapter
Tourism during the interwar years
The nineteenth century was remarkable, filled with technological and cultural innovation, a rising standard of living, and widespread, though far from universal, optimism about the future. World War I (1914–18) changed much of this, especially for Europeans. It was a very different conflict from those of prior centuries. The Great War went on and on, seemingly without end. Casualty rates were dizzying, a sharp contrast with what had taken place in the past. Technology was supposed to make life better, yet on the battlefield it seemed only to result in mass death and vicious dismemberment. Young men, once the picture of health, were reduced to shadows.