20th Century Turning Points
WWI, WWII, the Cold War, decolonization — the pivots that made the world we live in.
World Wars
World War I (1914-1918)
Tangled alliances, imperial rivalries, militarism, and one assassination (Archduke Franz Ferdinand, June 28, 1914) ignited a war that killed 20M+ and broke four empires.
Key Points
- Major combatants: UK-France-Russia vs Germany-Austria-Hungary-Ottomans. US joined Allies 1917.
- New technologies: machine guns, chemical weapons, tanks, air power.
- Treaty of Versailles (1919) — punishing terms on Germany; Keynes predicted the economic consequences presciently.
- Fall of empires: Habsburg, Romanov, Ottoman, German. Reshaped Europe and Middle East via Sykes-Picot and mandates.
Interwar: 1919-1939
Key Points
- Weimar Republic's instability; hyperinflation (1923), Great Depression (1929).
- Rise of fascism: Mussolini (1922), Hitler (1933), Franco (1939).
- League of Nations' failure to deter Japanese expansion (Manchuria 1931) and Italian aggression (Abyssinia 1935).
- Appeasement debate: Munich 1938 — Chamberlain's 'peace in our time' remains the shorthand for failed diplomacy.
World War II (1939-1945)
Deadliest conflict in human history — 70-85M dead including the Holocaust.
Key Points
- Axis: Germany, Italy, Japan. Allies: UK, USSR, US, China, 40+ more.
- Key turning points: Battle of Britain (1940), Stalingrad (1942-43), D-Day (1944), Hiroshima & Nagasaki (1945).
- Holocaust: 6M Jews murdered in industrial genocide. Documented at Nuremberg and subsequent research — foundational for modern human rights law.
- Atomic bombs opened nuclear age. Bretton Woods (1944) + UN (1945) structured post-war order.
Cold War
1945-1991
Bipolar US-USSR confrontation shaped every region. Never a direct hot war between superpowers — proxy wars everywhere else.
Key Points
- Containment doctrine (Kennan 1947): block Soviet expansion without direct confrontation.
- NATO (1949) vs Warsaw Pact (1955).
- Marshall Plan ($13B, 1948) rebuilt Western Europe; stabilized democracy.
- Korean War (1950-53): first major hot proxy conflict. Unresolved — still no peace treaty.
Cold War flashpoints
Berlin crises
1948 airlift (Stalin blockaded Berlin); 1961 Wall construction; 1989 fall of the Wall.
Cuban Missile Crisis (October 1962)
Closest the world has come to nuclear war. 13 days of ExComm deliberations; resolved with quiet Jupiter missile removal from Turkey.
Vietnam War (1955-1975)
US investment escalated post-Gulf of Tonkin (1964). 58K US deaths; millions of Vietnamese. 1975 fall of Saigon — humiliating US withdrawal.
Prague Spring (1968)
Dubček's reforms; Warsaw Pact invasion. Brezhnev Doctrine: USSR's right to intervene in socialist states.
Afghanistan (1979-1989)
Soviet invasion to prop up communist government. US-funded mujahideen. Helped bankrupt USSR.
End of the Cold War
Gorbachev's glasnost and perestroika unleashed reforms that the Soviet system couldn't contain.
Key Points
- Revolutions of 1989: Poland, Hungary, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Romania.
- Reunification of Germany (October 3, 1990).
- Dissolution of USSR (December 25, 1991). 15 successor states.
- Fukuyama's 'End of History' (1989): premature but captured the moment.
Decolonization
The great wave (1947-1975)
By 1914, European empires ruled 85% of the earth. By 1975, most colonies were independent.
Key Points
- India-Pakistan (1947): partition, 10-20M displaced, 1-2M dead.
- Ghana (1957): first sub-Saharan African independence under Nkrumah.
- Algerian War (1954-1962): 1M+ dead; ended French Fourth Republic.
- Year of Africa (1960): 17 African states gained independence.
Aftermath
Key Points
- New states admitted to the UN en masse — Global South as political bloc.
- Non-Aligned Movement (1961): Nehru, Tito, Nasser, Sukarno, Nkrumah.
- Borders drawn by colonial powers often cut across ethnic realities — source of ongoing conflicts.
- Economic dependency debate (Prebisch, Frank, Wallerstein) — center vs periphery persists.
FAQ
Did the assassination really cause WWI?
Triggered, not caused. Christopher Clark's 'The Sleepwalkers' (2012) argues the July Crisis was managed catastrophically; MacMillan's 'The War That Ended Peace' (2013) emphasizes underlying militarism. Both are essential reads.
Did the West 'win' the Cold War?
Contested. Gaddis says yes (liberal institutions and economies outperformed). Revisionists (Cumings, Westad) emphasize Soviet internal collapse and the costs of US-led interventions. Both views have merit.
Continue learning
Explore related MUN guides to deepen your skills.