The guns are silent. What now?

The costliest war in human history is at an end. But rather than heave a collective sigh of relief and look forward to a bright future, many observers are wondering what tomorrow will bring.

Word is spreading through the capitals of the victors – from Ottawa to Washington, London to Paris – that a peace conference the likes of which have never been seen before will be held next year to decide the fate of the Central Powers and create a structure to ensure the Great War will truly be the war to end all wars.

To that end, we have much to look forward to, in U.S. president Woodrow Wilson’s 14 points for peace. Wilson, a latecomer to the conflict, foresees a world in which all countries guarantee each others’ security, and strict limits are placed on armaments.

Wilson is at odds, however, with some of Europe’s leaders as to what to do with the nations that have ended up on the losing end of the war. Wilson favours a milder approach, while others like France’s Georges Clemenceau, favour punishing the Central Powers – particularly Germany – to ensure they never again have the power to make war.

One certain outcome of the Great War is the disappearance of some of the world’s most enduring empires. We have already seen the virtual extinction of the Romanov dynasty in Russia, a bloody departure at the hands of the Bolsheviks.

But we are today witnessing the crumbling of other empires: the Hohenzollerns in Germany (despite the Kaiser’s apparent exile in Holland), the Hapsburgs in Austria-Hungary, and the Ottomans throughout the Near and Middle East.

What will replace them is still very much in doubt, but there is grave concern in the west that Bolshevism is a leading contender. Its success so far in Russia, as well as the role it played in the mutinies on the Western Front in the past year, and the near-revolution now gripping Germany, point to a significant role in the coming decade.

The fight against Bolshevism, though, may form the basis for a new Germany, a fight embodied in the spirit of many of the Kaiser’s former soldiers.

One such soldier, Austrian native Adolf Hitler, tells Global News he’s furious with the Reds in his adopted homeland, and blames them – not the military leaders – for Germany’s surrender.

Corporal Hitler, who has spent the past month in hospital after suffering injuries in a mustard gas attack, has earned two Iron Crosses but now faces an uncertain future as he prepares to return to Munich.

He says he’ll remain in the army for now, but his driving purpose is to “save Germany” from the Bolsheviks, Jews, and politicians in Berlin whom he labels the “November criminals” for agreeing to the armistice.

But his future, like that of millions of others in central Europe, remains uncertain. Germany is likely on the hook for significant reparations, if Clemenceau wins the day, and unemployment and poverty are not out of the question for the once-proud German nation.

Even among the victors, the staggering losses of men and material in the Great War may take a generation to overcome. Some in the artistic community are even calling those who fought in the war “The Lost Generation” and sadness, even in this time of victory, abounds.

Canada’s future appears more certain, and more hopeful.

While the Borden government must now wrestle with employment issues of its own, given the imminent departure of thousands of women from the factories and offices, and the return of many more thousands of men, political pundits and other gadabouts view the Great War as Canada’s coming of age.

The country’s gallantry on the battlefield, tested at places like Vimy Ridge and Passchendaele, and in the skies by aces like Billy Bishop and Raymond Collishaw, thrust the country to the forefront of the Commonwealth and earned the respect of leaders in London and Paris.

Sources in Ottawa say Borden will push for Canada to be represented independently at the upcoming peace talks.