[082349872349872]

probably not the why you were looking for, but 1914*.

cf Zweig, The World of Yesterday for the memoirs of someone who remembered a world without.

* iow, the start of the "short 20th century"

[yourapostasy]

Man, did Zweig ever have an ear for lyrically lush phrasing. His and Garet Garrett's polemics against strident nationalism unfortunately fell upon deaf ears.