The Fading Battlefields of World War I

World War II: After the War. Part 20 of a weekly 20-part retrospective of the war. Part 20 is a weekly retrospective of WWII. Part 21 is a look at the aftermath of the conflict. Part 22 is the first part of the 20th part of this week's 20th series of World War I.

Much of the battle-ravaged landscape along the Western Front has been reclaimed by nature, erasing the scars of the war. This year will mark the passing of a full century since the end of World War I. The Fading Battlefields of the Great War will be marked by the centenary of WWI.

A century ago, in the summer of 1914, a series of events set off an unprecedented global conflict that ultimately claimed the lives of more than 16 million people. The conflict dramatically redrew the maps of Europe, and set the stage for the 20th Century. World War I in Photos: Introduction.