“The Short 20th Century” is a term coined by the British historian Eric Hobsbawm in order to simplify the division of history into characteristic epochs instead of centuries. Hobsbawm’s “short twentieth century” covers the period from the beginning of the First World War in 1914 to the end of the Cold War in connection with the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 .
The short twentieth century began with a series of setbacks in the form of world wars, economic crises and setbacks for democracy.
The time of World War II
The decades from the outbreak of World War I to the end of World War II were a catastrophic period in human history.
During the First World War , the countries involved mobilized (gathered) their resources and put large sections of their population under arms. The factories of the new industrial society could now supply the armies with more and more deadly weapons than ever before. The result was disastrous. More than ten million people died and even more were injured.
The interwar period – the time between the two world wars – was also dramatic and can be seen as a longer period of uncertain ceasefire. The world never had time to calm down after the First World War. Many countries struggled with unresolved social and national conflicts. In Russia , the Communists took over and formed the Soviet Union . After the stock market crash of 1929, the United States ended up in a deep crisis that spread around the world. And in Germany , Adolf Hitler and the Nazis seized power and created one of the most brutal dictatorships in history .
After only two decades of peace, it was time for an even greater world war.
World War II included several small and large conflicts that were fought in different parts of the world and became the most extensive and bloodiest conflict in human history to date. During the war, about 60 million people lost their lives, of which about thirteen million in the Nazi genocide .
The United States and the Soviet Union were the great winners of World War II. When the war ended, both countries still had very large military and economic resources. The United States and the Soviet Union therefore came to dominate world politics during the post-war period.
Cold War
The period after World War II in 1945 until the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 is sometimes called the post-war period . The period was marked by the Cold War, which was a showdown between the United States and the Soviet Union.
During the post-war period, the two superpowers shared or competed for power over the world while threatening each other with nuclear weapons . The Cold War meant that for decades after 1945, humanity had to live with a constantly imminent threat of nuclear war. The conflict was at times close to turning into a third world war, but slowed down over time as it became clearer that the Soviet Union could not compete with US economic capacity.
Colonial liberation
After World War II, many colonies took the opportunity to break away from the old European colonial powers . The conflicts of the post-war period were therefore often about the struggle for the liberation of the colonies . The enormous colonial empires that several European powers had built up during the long 19th century were shaken and collapsed.
In just a few decades, from the mid-1940s to the mid-1960s, almost all European colonies in Africa and Asia became independent.
The United Nations and the European Union – the great post-war peace project
By the end of World War II, large parts of Europe were in ruins. About 60 million people had died. In just a few decades, Europe and the world had endured two world wars. This could never be repeated!
It was now – in October 1945 shortly after World War II – that the new United Nations (UN) security organization was born. At the start, 51 states were members and thus promised “to save future generations from the scourge of war”, as stated in the introduction to the UN Charter. Today (2021) the number of members has increased to 193.
In addition to the UN, whose organization is open to all countries in the world, a completely European organization was also founded in Europe, the so-called Coal and Steel Community, which was later developed into the European Union (EU) . The original purpose of the Coal and Steel Community (ie the EU in its earliest stages) was to end the wars between Europe’s countries that had repeatedly caused so much human suffering. In the 1950s, therefore, a number of European countries began economic and political cooperation to preserve peace. The EU project has since grown in scope and today involves almost all European countries.
Economic growth
After 1945, capitalism, the welfare state and the rule of law gained a foothold, not only in the Western world but also in many former European colonies.
Between the years 1945-1973, the world economy turned upwards at the same time as the prosperity of the people increased. During these years, many countries succeeded in building welfare systems with security for all. The incredible economic growth and social transformation that took place during the period has probably changed human society more than any other equally short period in human history.
In the decades following the oil crisis in 1973 , the rich part of the world was hit by economic fluctuations and several major economic crises. During the latter part of the 20th century, therefore, many countries found it difficult to make the tax money sufficient for welfare.
Europe is losing its leading role
The dramatic development of events during the short 20th century resulted in Europe, after the Second World War, losing its leading role as the world’s economic and cultural hub. The countries that once looked across the world’s oceans to Europe are now turning them in other directions. The United States and the Soviet Union became the new and sole superpowers.
During the latter part of the 20th century, in connection with the increasing globalization , the industries that once started in Europe also began to move from there.
The short 20th century has perhaps most of all been the century of the United States. It was a time of prosperity and triumph for the United States, which in the second half of the 20th century became the world’s richest and most powerful state.
The age of extremes
The short 20th century has been the century of mass death. Never before in history have so many people died as a result of war and persecution. Not even if you add up all the other centuries. Historians have calculated that about 187 million people lost their lives during the period as a result of other people’s decisions.
But the world’s population has nevertheless increased enormously during the period. In 1910 there were 1750 million people on earth and by 1990 the number had increased to 5,270 million people. The world’s population had grown three times in just 80 years. The world was also incomparably much richer in the 1990s than at the beginning of the century. And the young people of the 1990s were taller, heavier and more well-fed than their older relatives.
During the second half of the 20th century, most people could probably also be considered literate, which is something unique in world history. At the same time, humanity was much better educated at the end of the period than in 1914.
The sharp increase in the level of education contributed to making the 20th century a time of technological progress unparalleled in world history. Perhaps the most dramatic and practical consequence of this was the revolution in transport and communications, which largely wiped out time and space. The world became global. Globalization has bound the countries and peoples of the world together and created a more common economy, culture, politics and environment.
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