Summer 2014 marked 100 years since the start of the First World War. At the beginning of the 20th century, 34 countries around the world were involved in the first al and all-encompassing war. With more than one billion people, i.e. almost one fourth of the world’s population at that time, at the epicentre of the global conflict. One can hardly imagine that in contemporary Europe, guided by the principle of freedom of movement. Nevertheless, WWI is part of the history we share; the history that must get the understanding of at different perception levels: individual, national, European. The current trends and the present crisis show that Democracy must not be taken for granted. The values and a democratic set of mind must be nurtured, developed and practiced. Thus, the key questions to be addressed within a one-week international Youth Exchange were: • Which reasons and background circumstances led to the outbreak of the First World War? • What was the war time here and at other places like? • What impact had the First World War on the different corners of Europe? • How much does the society value tolerance and peace today? • What is democracy? What principles is it based on? • How are today and yesterday, freedom and responsibility, equality and social justice connected? • How can I practice participation and which influence does it have? • How important is Europe and the European Union in this respect? The main goal of the Youth Exchange was correspondingly the development of the democratic “everyday culture” through strengthening of civic and political competences, critical thinking and enhancement of the motivation in order to enable youth to define and actively participate in the community life. The participants took a closer look at the history, i.e. the reasons, course and consequences of WWI as well as other historical-political topics in the European context within the framework of the project. The contemporary civic-political issues were of the great importance. Discussions were fuelled and enriched through versatile “country-oriented” view points of the participants. Joint leisure activities and excursions supported the intercultural exchange of the participants. The project took place in August 2014 in Weimar, Germany under the roof of the European Youth Education and Meeting Centre (EJBW), co-initiated and supported by the municipality of Weimar. The project was furthermore financially supported by the Staatskanzlei Thüringen and the Sparkasse Mittelthüringen in cooperation with project partners from EU28 and neighbouring countries from Southeastern Europe (SEE) and Eastern Europe & Caucasus (EECA).