When World War I erupted in Europe in 1914, the world was thrust into a new era of mechanized warfare , mass mobilization , and cultural upheaval . For the United States, entry into the war came later in April 1917, but its impact on American society, and particularly on its young intellectuals, was profound. Among them was Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald , a 20-year-old Princeton dropout with literary ambitions and a romantic view of war. His experience or more accurately, his non-experience of World War I would leave a lasting imprint on his psyche and his prose. Enlistment and Aspirations of Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald enlisted in the U.S. Army on June 8, 1917 , shortly after America joined the war. Like many young men of his generation, he was swept up by a mix of patriotism, idealism, and a desire for personal transformation. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the infantry and sent to Camp Sheridan in Alabama for training. But Fitzgerald’s motivations weren’t pu...