20th Century


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The 20th century extended from the first day of 1901 to the last day of 2000 according to the Gregorian Calendar . Many individuals confuse the 20th century and the so-called ''' nineteen-hundreds''' ( 1900s ).

However, a number of arguments have been put forward to justify the common usage. One advanced by Stephen Jay Gould is that the first decade consisted of only nine years, thus contradicting the definition of a ''decade'' (ten years). Another argument is that the Astronomical Year Numbering system for years does have a year zero, the year generally referred to as 1 BC. In 2000 the International Organization For Standardization clarified ISO 8601 to use the astronomical year numbering system, which could be interpreted as retroactively endorsing all those who had celebrated the new century a few months earlier. Also, decades are almost always considered as starting with the "0" year and named accordingly ("1960s", etc.).

The term is also used to describe various historical periods that overlap with the calendar definition, most notably the Short Twentieth Century , which describes the 20th Century as spanning from 1914 to 1989 (or sometimes up to and including 1990 or 1991 ), relegating the pre-World War I 1900s into the 19th Century and putting the post-Soviet 1990s at the beginning of the 21st Century .

Indeed, the part of the 20th Century preceding World War I is quite similar to the late 1800s culturally and technologically, and the decade of the 1990s pointed in many ways (such as the rise of the Internet and digital communications) to the 21st Century ; it is perceived by some as being more like the early 21st Century than the 1980s and prior decades.

OVERVIEW

The twentieth century saw a remarkable shift in the way that vast numbers of people lived, as a result of technological, medical, social, ideological, and political innovation. Arguably more technological advances occurred in any 10 year period following World War I than the sum total of new technological development in any previous ''century''. Terms like Ideology , World War , Genocide , and Nuclear War entered common usage and became an influence on the lives of everyday people. War reached an unprecedented scale and level of sophistication; in the Second World War (1939-1945) alone, approximately 57 Million People died, mainly due to massive improvements in weaponry. The trends of mechanization of goods and services and networks of global communication, which were begun in the 19th Century , continued at an ever-increasing pace in the 20th. In spite of the terror and chaos, the 20th century saw many attempts at world peace. As the 35th President of the United States John F. Kennedy said:

What kind of peace do we seek? I am talking about a genuine peace, the kind of peace that makes life on earth worth living. Not merely peace in our time, but peace in all time. Our problems are man-made, therefore they can be solved by man. For in the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet, we all breathe the same air, we all cherish our children's future, and we are all mortal.

Virtually every aspect of life in virtually every human society changed in some fundamental way or another during the twentieth century and for the first time, any individual could influence the course of history no matter their background. Arguably, the 20th century re-shaped the face of the planet in more ways than any previous century.

Technology

Death Rates

Infant Mortality

Infectious Disease

Life Expectancy

Maternal Death Rates

Battles

Scientific discoveries such as Relativity and Quantum Physics radically changed the worldview of scientists, causing them to realize that the universe was much more complex than they had previously believed, and dashing the hopes at the end of the preceding century that the last few details of knowledge were about to be filled in.

For a more coherent overview of the historical events of the century, see The 20th Century In Review .

The 20th century has sometimes been called, both within and outside the United States , the American Century , though this is a controversial term.

IMPORTANT DEVELOPMENTS, EVENTS AND ACHIEVEMENTS

Science and technology

The Assembly Line and Mass Production of motor vehicles and other goods allowed manufacturers to produce more and cheaper products. This allowed the Automobile to become the most important means of transportation.

The invention of Heavier-than-air Flying Machines and the Jet Engine allowed for the world to become "smaller." Space Flight increased knowledge of the rest of the universe and allowed for global real-time communications via Geosynchronous Satellite s.

Mass Media technologies such as Film , Radio , and Television allow the communication of political messages and entertainment with unprecedented impact

Mass availability of the Telephone and later, the Computer , especially through the Internet , provides people with new opportunities for near-instantaneous communication

Applied Electronics , notably in its miniaturized form as Integrated Circuit s, made possible the above mentioned rise of Mass Media , telecommunications, ubiquitous Computing , and all kinds of "intelligent" appliances; as well as many advances in natural sciences such as physics, by the use of Exponentially Growing calculation power (see Supercomputer ).

The development of Nitrogen fertilizer, Pesticide s and Herbicide s resulted in significantly higher agricultural yield.

Advances in fundamental Physics through the Theory Of Relativity and Quantum Mechanics led to the development of Nuclear Weapon s (known informally as "the Bomb" and dropped on the industrial town of Hiroshima and the historic town of Nagasaki ), the Nuclear Reactor , and the Laser . Fusion Power was studied extensively but remained an experimental technology at the end of the century.

Inventions such as the Washing Machine and Air Conditioning led to an increase in both the quantity and quality of Leisure Time for the Middle Class in Developed Countries .

Most influential inventions in the 20th century: Antibiotic s, Oral Contraceptive s, new Plastic s, Transistor s, Internet

More...

Wars and politics

in frontline,
a British Mark I Tank crossing a trench,
the Royal Navy Battleship HMS Irresistible sinking after striking a Mine at the Battle Of The Dardanelles ,
a Vickers Machine Gun crew with Gas Mask s
and a Sopwith Camel Biplane .]]

Democratic nations began to extend Voting Privileges to all adults.

Rising Nationalism and increasing national awareness were among the causes of World War I , the first of two wars to involve all the major world powers including Germany , France , Italy , Japan , the United States and the Commonwealth Of Nations . World War I led to the creation of many new countries, especially in Eastern Europe . Ironically, it was said by many to be the 'War to end all Wars'.

The economic and political aftermath of World War I led to the rise of Fascism and Nazism in Europe, and shortly to World War II . This war also involved Asia and the Pacific, in the form of Japanese aggression against China and the United States. The First World War cost many soldiers' lives, however it also served as the backdrop to the First Genocide Of The 20th Century , where 1.5 million Armenians were exterminated by the Ottoman Young Turks. Among soldiers, civilians also suffered greatly in the Second -- from the bombing of cities on both sides, and in the German Genocide of the Jew s and others, known as The Holocaust .

During , China , Indochina and Cuba . This led to the Cold War and Proxy War s with The West , including wars in Korea (1950-53) and Vietnam (1957 - 75).

The "fall of Communism" in the late 1980s enslaved Eastern and Central Europe from Soviet supremacy. It also led to the dissolution of the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia into Successor State s, many rife with Ethnic Nationalism , and left the United States as the world's Superpower .

Through the League Of Nations and, after World War II , the United Nations , international cooperation increased. Other efforts included the formation of the European Union , leading to a common currency in much of Western Europe , the Euro around the turn of the millennium.

The end of Colonialism led to the independence of many Africa n and Asia n countries. During the Cold War, many of these aligned with the USA, the USSR, or China for defense.

The creation of Israel , a Jew ish state in a mostly Arab region of the world, fueled many conflicts in the region, which were also influenced by the vast Oil fields in many of the Arab countries.

The term '' Southeast Asia '' coined.

Culture and entertainment

" refers to the celluloid media on which motion pictures reside]]

As the century begins, Paris is the artistic capital of the world, where both French and foreign writers, composers and visual artists gather.

Movies , Music and the Media had a major influence on Fashion and trends in all aspects of life. As many movies and music originate from the United States , American culture spread rapidly over the world.

After gaining political rights in the United States and much of Europe in the first part of the century, and with the advent of new Birth Control techniques women became more independent throughout the century.

Rock And Roll and Jazz styles of music are developed in the United States, and quickly become the dominant forms of popular music in America, and later, the world. The Beatles , a 1960s British Rock and Roll band, becomes one of the most successful acts of all time, and is credited, in their experimental later albums, with permanently changing what was thought possible in Popular Music .

Modern art developed new styles such as Expressionism , Cubism , and Realism .

The Automobile provided vastly increased transportation capabilities for the average member of Western societies in the early to mid-century, spreading even further later on. City design throughout most of the West became focused on transport via car. The car became a leading symbol of modern society, with styles of car suited to and symbolic of particular lifestyles.

Sport s became an important part of society, becoming an activity not only for the privileged. Watching sports, later also on Television , became a popular activity.

Disease and medicine

Although the availability and quality of medicine continued to improve, epidemic diseases continued to spread, aided by modern transportation. An Influenza pandemic, the Spanish Flu , killed 25 million between 1918 and 1919 , while AIDS is yet uncured and treatments remain too expensive for wide use in Developing Countries .

Advances in Medicine , such as the invention of Antibiotic s, decreased the number of people dying from diseases. Contraceptive drugs and Organ Transplantation were developed. The discovery of DNA molecules and the advent of Molecular Biology allowed for Cloning and Genetic Engineering .

Natural resources and the environment

, 1938
The first modern oil well was drilled in 1848 by Russian engineer F.N. Semyonov, on the Aspheron Peninsula north-east of Baku .38]]

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20th Century

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