The name "world war" was given to the war of 1914-1918 because of its kaleidoscopic character: its fronts extended from the East to the West, on several seas and several continents. Yet the memory and cultural experience of this conflict are closely linked to the western front, which, it is true, is a particularly tragic terrain for examining the paradoxes and horrors of modernity that this war may have represented . Of course, other theaters of operations have played a role in a number of special contexts - Gallipoli has been of great importance to the formation of Australian national identity