From Sarajevo to Brussels, c. 1914-Today

Global

• The United States became the leading Western state during World War I. Wilson shaped the Paris Conference. The 1929 stock market crash led to global depression. The Marshall Plan funded the post-World War II Western economic miracle. American culture deeply influenced Europe.
• World Wars I and II entangled the global community. During the Cold War, the United States and USSR influenced developing states. Proxy wars raged in Korea, Vietnam, and Afghanistan.
• The League of Nations mandates extended French and British imperialism post-World War I. National independence movements pressured empires. Decolonization followed World War II. 

Commerce

• World War I shattered faith in continued progress.
• The Russian Revolution resulted from social inequality. Incomplete industrialization led to Lenin’s NEP and Stalin's 5-Year Plans.
• Post-World War I economies relied on investment capital from the United States. Systemic instability resulted in the Great Depression.
• Fascism reacted against both communism and capitalism.

• European integration and global trade organizations shaped the post-World War II Western economic miracle. Welfare programs expanded.
• A mass consumer economy led to a rapidly rising standard of living.

• Perestroika failed to revive the stagnant Soviet economy.​
• More women had professional careers and greater public roles.

Culture

• World War I shattered faith in continued progress.

• Intellectual movements questioned the existence of objective knowledge, limits of reason, and role of religion.

• Fascists rejected democracy and glorified war and nationalism.
• The complexity of modern science increased philosophical uncertainty.
• Modern life and total wars led to a reassessment of religion's role.

• Art became exceptionally individualistic, abstract, experimental, subjective, and emotional.

• Feminism and economic changes altered family dynamics.

State

• World War I resulted from nationalism, imperialism, industrialization, militarism, and alliances. Total war centralized state power in World Wars I and II. World War I destroyed empires and reorganized states.

• Totalitarian regimes were established in Russia, Italy, and Germany. State propaganda used mass media. Britain and France failed to appease Axis aggression. Germany tried to impose a new racial order.
• Empires decolonized after World War II. Europe was divided into opposing camps during the Cold War.

• European economic and political unity developed after World War II.
• Stagnate state-run economies contributed to communist collapse. Nationalism reemerged in former communist states.

• The Second Vatican Council redefined Catholic Church.
• Women were elected to prominent leadership positions.

Society

• Totalitarianism suppressed individual rights.

• Total war ravaged civilian populations. The Armenian, Holodomor, Holocaust, and Bosnian genocides destroyed marginalized groups.

• Communist regimes waged class warfare.

• Irish, Basque, and Chechen separatists sought independence.​

• ​New opportunities for women opened.
• Gays and lesbians fought for civil rights.
• Youth movements protested status quo.

Identity

• Immigration after World War II triggered anti-immigrant agitation and nationalism.​
• ​Globalization and American influence generated criticism.
• ​​Post-World War II guest workers and immigrants faced discrimination.

Technology

• European communication and transportation technologies sped and deepened globalization.
• The complexity of modern science increased philosophical uncertainty.
• Scientific and engineering breakthroughs improved the quality of life but imperiled life on Earth.​
• Nuclear weapons threatened existence.
• ​The internet expanded public discourse.

The First World War

includes

• ​Causes
• 1914
• 1915-1916
• 1917
• The Bolshevik Revolution
• 1918
• Aftermath
• Peace
• The Age of Anxiety

The Second World War

includes

• ​The Machine Age
• Fascist Italy
• International Economics
• Failures of Democratic States
• Stalinism
• Nazi Germany
• German and Italian Expansion
• The Spanish Civil War
• 1939-1940
• 1941-1942
• 1943-1945
• The Holocaust
• Total War
• Demographic Disasters

The Cold War

includes

• ​​1945-1955
• Postwar Economies
• Nuclear Physics
  
• 1956-1967
• 1968
  
• 1969-1991
  
• Wars of Former Yugoslavia
  
• Decolonization
  
• 20th Century Religion
  
• Existentialism and Postmodern Philosophy
  
• Postmodern Art
  
• Pop Culture, 1940s-1980s
  

The European Union

includes

• ​European Union
• The Eurozone
• Immigration and Identity
• Russia and Soviet Successor States
• Separatist Movements
• Terrorism
• High Speed
• Reproduction
• Women's Rights
• LGBT Rights
• Greens
• Pop Culture, 1990s-Today

Links

Readings & Assignments

Videos

Slideshows