The article is devoted to the consideration of the First World War in the context of the crisis of classical type of philosophy and subsequent development of non-classical philosophy. The description of essential features of the First World War and the connection between the crisis of classical philosophy and the First World War are presented with the refl ection of the representatives of the French philosophical tradition. Characterizing the First World War as a non-classical object allows to present it as a system-forming element of non-classical philosophy and to give a detailed description of the stages of non-classical philosophy formation.