A minute of silence on November 11, 1918 did not end the world’s turmoil—it exposed it. In this episode, Monsignor Wolf opens with the Armistice and follow the shockwaves: empires dissolving, borders reshaped in Central Europe and the Middle East, and a fragile “peace” that many leaders privately admitted would last only twenty years. From Austria-Hungary’s collapse to the reassembling of the Ottoman lands, from Germany’s chaotic republic to Japan’s strategic rise, the map changed faster than the moral reckoning that should have guided it.

He also examines how the United States stepped from hesitant observer to decisive actor. Wilson’s ideals, the politics at home, and the raw numbers of American troops turned the tide, yet conflict persisted far beyond the armistice. Civil war in Russia, shifting lines in Ukraine and Poland, and fighting between Greece and Turkey all underscored a hard truth: ceasing fire is not the same as making peace. The Versailles settlement left most parties convinced they had sacrificed more than they gained, sowing grievances that would erupt again by 1939.

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Father Don Wolf is a priest of the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City. Living Catholic also broadcasts on Oklahoma Catholic Radio several times per week, with new episodes airing every Sunday.