Washington (CNN) -- A famous French painting stolen during World War I by the German Army was returned to the government of France by U.S. officials on Thursday.
Yet, the hand wringing, bumbling generals led by a madman and backed by a German public with little appetite for war unleashed the blitzkrieg that would shatter the French and British forces in less than 7 weeks.
The world remembers the Great War for the supreme pointlessness with which it slaughtered an entire generation of British, French, German and other combatants.