While at first the United States held a monopoly on the production of nuclear weapons, the Soviet Union, with some assistance from espionage, managed to detonate its first weapon (dubbed "Joe-1" by the West) in August 1949. [145] A very small number of people deny the Holocaust occurred entirely, though these claims have been routinely discredited by mainstream historians. But that progress wouldn't come overnight. World War II officially began on September 1, 1939, when Hitler unleashed his Blitzkrieg, or lightning war, against Poland. [260] Since the US was in a position of almost unchallenged domination, a major part of the process was Americanization. April 18, 1906 (San Francisco Earthquake) 4. Subject: Important historical events in 20th century Category: Miscellaneous Asked by: lucy531-ga List Price: $20.00: Posted: 27 Apr 2004 09:49 … 1920. [97], On December 7, 1941, Japan launched a surprise attack on the American base at Pearl Harbor as a mean of preventing the U.S. Pacific Fleet from interfering with its planned expansion in the area. [112] The battle of Leyte Gulf is also notable as the first battle in which Japanese aircraft carried out organized kamikaze attacks.[113]. These advancements have played a significant role in citizens' lives and shaped the 21st century into what it is today. Over three million men and their weapons were put into service against the Soviet Union. … Memes, like "the distracted boyfriend," are now part of our … Hitler refused to "risk" his panzers on an action at Dunkirk, listening to the advice of Air Minister Hermann Göring and allowing the Luftwaffe, or German Air Force, to handle the job. These wars also cost millions of lives and trillions of dollars. Much like the hairstyles of the 20th century, fashion was based on wars, politics, social movements, and more. Congress passes Lyndon Johnson's major antipoverty legislation, the Economic Opportunity Act. This was achieved in 1947 with the end of British rule in India and the Partition of the territory into modern day India and Pakistan, which would later also further divide, leading to the creation of the People's Republic of Bangladesh in 1971. Democratic governments assumed the responsibility to provide needed services in society, and to alleviate poverty. Soil During World War II", "The Soviet Union after 1945: Economic Recovery and Political Repression", "The division of Germany - The Cold War (1945–1989) - CVCE Website", "Milestones: 1945–1952 - Office of the Historian", "The Nuremberg Trial and the Tokyo War Crimes Trials (1945–1948)", "Gandhi's nonviolent approach offers lessons for peace movements, Stanford scholar says", "The forgotten violence that helped India break free from colonial rule", "Indian Independence Day: everything you need to know about Partition between India and Pakistan 70 years on", "How one newspaper report changed world history", "The Philippines, 1898–1946 | US House of Representatives: History, Art & Archives", "Dien Bien Phu & the Fall of French Indochina, 1954", "Decolonization of Asia and Africa, 1945–1960", "The Dividing of a Continent: Africa's Separatist Problem", "Are colonial-era borders drawn by Europeans holding Africa back? Famous people of the Twentieth-Century, including Churchill, Roosevelt, M.Luther King, Marilyn Monroe, Princess Diana and Nelson Mandela. [222] Mir and Skylab enabled prolonged human habitation in space. Persian Oil Strike, May 26, 1908. [66][67], After the winter, Hitler launched a fresh offensive in the spring of 1942, with the aim of capturing the oil-rich Caucacus and the city of Stalingrad. See what famous, interesting and notable events happened throughout history on April 20. Who Were the Democratic Presidents of the United States? [21] The responses to the crisis often made the situation worse, as millions of people watched their savings become next to worthless and the idea of a steady job with a reasonable income fading away.[22]. [249] In order to take advantage of advancing technology, games consoles were created. The '20s also showed great strides in women's suffrage—women got the vote in 1920. [110] In later October, a combined attack of American and Australian forces took on the Imperial Japanese Navy during the Battle of Leyte Gulf in what was to be the largest naval battle of World War II and possibly the largest naval battle of all time. [183], During the Yalta Conference, where the Western, capitalist powers, and the communist Soviet Union agreed on separate spheres of influence in Europe, they set up the stage for a geopolitical rivalry that would dominate international relations for the next five decades. The idea of worldwide revolution was no longer in the forefront, as Stalin concentrated on "socialism in one country"[17] and embarked on a bold plan of collectivization and industrialization. 5 Men Who Inspired Martin Luther King, Jr. to Be a Leader, Civil Rights Movement Timeline From 1965 to 1969, Timeline of the 1990s and the Last Hurrah of the 20th-Century, 10 of the Most Influential Presidents of the United States, B.A., History, University of California at Davis. [96] On 27 September 1940, Japan became cosignatories of the Tripartite Pact, joining a military alliance with Germany and Italy. [198] General Douglas MacArthur led troops from the United States, Canada, Australia, Great Britain, and other countries in repulsing the Northern invasion. The west went to Britain, France, and the U.S. Post-war Germany would be split between the four, as would Berlin. The motor car stormed through town and country, transforming both. [9] The British first used the tank. However, the development of the destroyer and aircraft with a longer patrol range were effective at countering the U-boat threat and by December 1943, the Germans had lost the battle. "A Timeline of the 20th Century." Britain no longer ruled a third of the planet, though its multi-racial population reflected old imperial connections. Recently arrived troops from the east under the command of Marshal Georgy Zhukov counterattacked the Germans and drove them from Moscow. This book of American history for kids explores the most influential moments of the 20th century, including World War I, World War II, the Civil Rights Movement, the Women’s Liberation Movement, the Cold War, and more. This change smashed any expectations that the Second World War would be fought in the trenches like the first. [87], At the beginning of 1945, Hitler was on his last strings. ", "7 Civil Wars in Africa We Must Never Forget", "The Yalta Conference - The Cold War (1945–1989) - CVCE Website", "The Sinews of Peace ('Iron Curtain Speech')", "The Incorporation of the Baltic States by the Soviet Union", "The End of WWII and the Division of Europe", "Red Century: From the 'October Revolution' in 1917, communism swept the globe. Eastern Poland (incorporated into the Byelorussian SSR and the Ukrainian SSR),[186] Latvia (which became the Latvian SSR), Estonia (which became the Estonian SSR), Lithuania ( which became the Lithuanian SSR),[187] part of eastern Finland (which became the Karelo-Finnish SSR)[188] and eastern Romania (which became the Moldavian SSR)[189] were now wholly part of Soviet Union. Crucially, IBM developed the PC from third-party components that were available on the open market. [2] The Allies, known initially as "The Triple Entente", comprised the British Empire, France and Russia. The British at first suffered steady losses, but eventually managed to turn the air war against Germany, taking down 2,698 German planes throughout the summer of 1940 to only 915 Royal Air Force (RAF) losses. The offensive bogged down, and the entire 6th Army, considered the best of German troops, was trapped in Stalingrad. Millions were infected with HIV, the virus which causes AIDS. By early 1945, the Americans set their eyes on the Japanese island of Iwo Jima, which was of great strategic importance, being situated halfway between Tokyo and the Mariana Islands. Women S History Milestones A Timeline. First and foremost, the Germans were forced to sign the Treaty of Versailles, forcing them to make exorbitant payments to repair damages caused during the War. The V-1 was often intercepted by air pilots, but the V-2 was extremely fast and carried a large payload. Despots such as Kim Jong-il of North Korea continued to lead their nations toward the development of nuclear weapons. This treaty gave Stalin free rein to take the Baltic republics of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, as well as Eastern Poland, all of which would remain in Soviet possession after the war. Looking back, the groundbreaking events that shaped Black history may not seem all that shocking. A Timeline of the 20th Century. [218] Nevertheless, despite its successes, the U.S. space program could not match many major achievements of the Soviet space program, such as rover-based space exploration and image and video transfer from the surface of another planet, until the early 21st century. Check out Highbrow quiz to test your knowledge on most important historical events of the 20th century. Fourteen years ago, the International Astronomical Union decided that Pluto would … Although Adolf Hitler had committed suicide, many of his cronies, including Hermann Göring, were convicted. The Sino-Soviet split had removed the USSR's most powerful ally, the People's Republic of China. The people of the Indian subcontinent, a sixth of the world population at the end of the century, had attained an indigenous independence for the first time in centuries. At this critical moment, the Soviet people stalled the German Wehrmacht to a halt at the gates of Moscow. The invention of programming languages meant computer operators could concentrate on problem solving at a high-level, without having to think in terms of the individual instructions to the computer itself. 1906 The first dreadnought, a new and powerful battleship is launched. The gap between rich and poor nations continued to widen. [76], The Battle of the Atlantic took place from 1942 to 1944 and was described as "longest, largest, and most complex naval battle in history". Europe appeared to be at a sustainable peace for the first time in recorded history. ThoughtCo uses cookies to provide you with a great user experience and for our, Jonathan Elderfield / Liaison / Getty Images. [28], Many people in Western Europe and the United States greeted the rise of Hitler with relief or indifference. August 6, 1945 (Hiroshima) 3. [234] Computers became reprogrammable rather than fixed-purpose devices. It Was a Disaster", "1940: Victory for RAF in Battle of Britain", "The Stuka Terror: Germany's shrieking Ju 87 dive bomber lingered in the mind as a truly dreaded air weapon", "BBC - History - Britain bombs Berlin (pictures, video, facts & news)", "BBC - History - Hitler postpones the invasion of Britain (pictures, video, facts & news)", "What Stalin Knew: The Enigma of Barbarossa — Central Intelligence Agency", "Germany's Sixth Army in Stalingrad in World War II", "Germany declares war on the United States", "Why the Battle of Kursk Might Just Be the Most Misunderstood World War II Battle", "Why Hitler's grand plan during the second world war collapsed", "Liberating Rome and Central Italy, a World War II Online Interactive, Released", "What You Need To Know About The Battle Of The Atlantic", "Aug. 25, 1944 | Paris Is Liberated After 4-Year Nazi Occupation", "V2: The Nazi rocket that launched the space age", "How Churchill, Roosevelt And Stalin Planned To End The Second World War", "The Cold War origins 1941-56: The Yalta Conference", "May 7, 1945 | Nazi Germany Surrenders in World War II", "The Problem of Sovereignty: Manchukuo, 1932-1937", "BBC - History - World Wars: Japan's Quest for Empire", "The War That Started 80 Years Ago Wouldn't Happen Today. [14] An international body called the League of Nations was formed to mediate disputes and prevent future wars, although its effectiveness was severely limited by, among other things, its reluctance and inability to act. Convenient home shopping had been an element of "visions of the future" since the development of the telephone, but now the race was on to provide convenient, interactive consumerism. Many people saw this as the first stage of the end of the capitalist system and were attracted to Communism as a solution to the economic crisis, especially as the Soviet Union's economic development in the 1930s was strong, unaffected by the capitalist world's crisis. The Italians, most of whom did not really support the war, had already turned against Mussolini. [3][4], In 1917, Russia ended hostile actions against the Central Powers after the fall of the Tsar. Around half of the island's population of 300,000 were killed, committed suicide or went missing. Thus, the idea that the existing system could be reformed by government intervention in the economy, rather than by continuing the laissez-faire approach, became prominent as a solution to the crisis. As perhaps the greatest team of the 20th century, ... Now the NFL Draft is a prime-time event and one of the most important days of the sports ... Hank Aaron's Historic Day. Winston Churchill (British PM during WWII) Martin Luther King (Leader of civil rights movement in US) [35] Totalitarian states attempted to achieve total control over their subjects as well as their total loyalty. Following the Potsdam Declaration of July 26, where the Allies threatened "prompt and utter destruction" should Japan not surrender,[121] the decision was made to resort to the first use of atomic bombs. These two weapons remain the only two nuclear weapons ever used against other countries in war. [107] The losses suffered during this Battle of Midway, paired with the campaign of attrition that was taking place in Solomon Islands, left Japan unable to replenish its forces and turned the tides of war against it. [177] Through the efforts of Amílcar Cabral and others, the Portuguese colonies of Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde, Angola, Mozambique and São Tomé and Príncipe followed suit and achieved independence during the mid-1970s, in what was to be the last important wave of African decolonization. Historical events for the 20th of April. [26], When Adolf Hitler came to power in Germany in 1933, a new variant of fascism called Nazism took over Germany and ended the German experiment with democracy. [94] This, in turn, led to a further escalation of the hostilities, leading to the Second Sino-Japanese War, one of the deadliest conflicts in human history. After the starting of the 20th Century the type of music called jazz started to spring up originating from classical, and from folk music country & western started to develop. This was soon followed by the surprising fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. January 24: A B-52 bomber from Seymour Johnson Air Force Base crashes near Goldsboro while carrying two nuclear warheads. [267], Perhaps most importantly, it was speculated that in the long term, environmental problems threatened the planet's livability. [65] Rommel managed to use his small force to repeatedly smash massively superior British forces and to recapture the port city of Tobruk and advance into Egypt. The Most Important Historical Events Of 20th Century. Soon after the events in Czechoslovakia, Britain and France issued assurances of protection to Poland, which seemed to be next on Hitler's list. After the invasion of the Soviet Union, armed killing squads of SS men known as Einsatzgruppen systematically rounded up Jews and murdered an estimated one million Jews within the country. World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, though related conflicts began earlier. Almost all of the major nations that were involved in World War II began shedding their overseas colonies soon after the conflict. [12] Germany was never occupied by Allied troops, yet it had to accept a liberal democratic government imposed on it by the victors after the abdication of Kaiser Wilhelm. 1961 The battleship USS North Carolinais berthed at Wilmington and opens as a museum and war memorial. He originally planned to launch the attack in early spring of 1941 to avoid the disastrous Russian winter. After a tense week, the Soviet Union backed down and ordered the launchers removed, not wanting to risk igniting a new world war. It was ignited by the Assassination in Sarajevo of the Austro-Hungarian Empire's heir to the throne, Erzherzog Franz Ferdinand, by Gavrilo Princip of the organization "Young Bosnia," Bosnian Serbs' liberation movement. Rosenberg, Jennifer. But by the turn of the century North Korea showed no noticeable sign of political collapse or even significant change, despite years of profound economic hardship. ", "Benito Mussolini & the Italian Fascism State", "Early Warnings: How American Journalists Reported the Rise of Hitler", "Hitler announces an Anschluss with Austria", "The Munich Agreement - archive, September 1938", "The Road to World War II: How Appeasement Failed to Stop Hitler", "Between the wars – failure of the young democracies", "The Spanish Civil War: A Trial Run for World War II", "BBC - History - World Wars: Invasion of Poland", "Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact: A 'honeymoon' for two dictators | DW | 23.08.2014", "Why Finland allied itself with Nazi Germany | Letter", "Britain's 'Phoney' Start To The Second World War", "1940: Churchill takes helm as Germans advance", "BBC - History - World Wars: The Norway Campaign in World War Two", "Swedish neutrality during the Second World War: tactical success or moral compromise? Norway held on for a few crucial weeks, but Denmark surrendered after only four days. Warsaw, Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Belgrade, Bucharest and Sofia; all these famous cities and the populations around them lie in what I must call the Soviet sphere, and all are subject, in one form or another, not only to Soviet influence but to a very high and in some cases increasing measure of control from Moscow. In July, he had been stripped of power and taken prisoner, though the Italians feigned continued support of the Axis. Important Events of 1920-1940 . [101], The next six months were dominated by Japanese victories against the Allied forces, already war-weary and stretched thin after two years of war in Europe and North Africa. Fall of the Berlin Wall - 1989. The site is very useful for starting place on events in Chinese History. The official ‘date’ here is subjective, but what isn’t is how... 2. [43] This witnessed the incredible fall of Eben Emael, a Belgian fort considered impregnable and guarded by 600 Belgians, to a force of only 88 German paratroopers. However, the war reached a stalemate after Chinese intervention pushed U.N. forces back, and an Armistice ended hostilities in July 1953, leaving the two Koreas divided and tense for the rest of the century. New states like Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia were created out of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire to accommodate the nationalist aspirations of these groups. Archaeology hit the mainstream with the discovery of King Tut's Tomb. This brought about new concerns surrounding intellectual property issues. The 1940s also witnessed the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi and the beginning of apartheid in South Africa. It also allowed the identification of the type and a guess at the number of incoming enemy aircraft, as well as tracking of friendly airplanes. 1. 31 Inventions of the 20th Century That Changed the Course of History. The most serious problem was global warming, which was predicted to frequently flood coastal areas, due to human-caused emission of greenhouse gases, particularly carbon dioxide produced by the burning of fossil fuels. [156] South Africa developed six crude weapons in the 1980s (which it later dismantled),[157] and Israel almost certainly developed nuclear weapons though it never confirmed nor denied it. Women S History Milestones A Timeline. 1. eebass added World War II. This decade opened the century with some amazing scientific and technological feats: the first flight by the Wright brothers, Henry Ford's first Model-T, and Albert Einstein's Theory of Relativity. On 6 August, the 393d Bombardment Squadron B-29 Enola Gay, took off from Tinian and dropped the bomb on the city of Hiroshima. [226] Its arms race with the U.S. was draining the country of funds, and further weakened by internal pressures, ethnic and political. By the beginning of 1944, Hitler had lost all initiative in the Soviet Union, and was struggling even to hold back the tide turning against him. Eventually, nine nations would overtly develop nuclear weapons, and still maintain stockpiles today: the United States, the Soviet Union (and later Russia would inherit these), the United Kingdom, France, China, India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea. This disastrous attack forced the Americans into the war. The Great Depression. Secondly, it marked the advent of radar as a major weapon in modern air war. The worst of this was that King Leopold III of Belgium surrendered to the Germans on May 28 without warning his allies, exposing the entire flank of the Allied forces to German panzer groups. The celebration of the ending of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century was at New Year's Day, 2000. Outside of Europe, countries that would see the rise of communism and would ally themselves to the communist bloc include Mongolia, China, North Korea, Cuba and Vietnam. Nevertheless, it was one of the bloodiest battles of the war and the second costliest battle in the history of the American Army. [84] The Germans were also on the verge of introducing a number of terrifying new weapons, including advanced jet aircraft, which were too fast for ordinary propeller aircraft, and submarine improvements which would allow the Germans to again fight effectively in the Atlantic. [108], Over the next two years the Allies slowly captured one island base after another, trying to get closer to Japan itself, where it planned to launch massive strategic air attacks and, only if absolutely necessary, execute a ground invasion. The 20th century began without planes, televisions, and of course, computers. Alongside these revolutionary cultural changes, geopolitics was equally dramatic: The U.S. entered the Vietnam War, the Berlin Wall was built, the Soviets launched the first man into space, and President John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, and Robert Kennedy were all assassinated. Hitler now refused to let 6th Army break out. [44] Following the conquest of the Low Countries, Hitler occupied Denmark and Norway, beginning on April 9, 1940. The history of 20th century Ireland see's the Irish uprising, war for independence, and the partition of Ireland resulting in a long and bloody conflict. Other news in the 1930s included the disappearance of aviator Amelia Earhart over the Pacific, a wild and murderous crime spree by Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow, and the imprisonment of Chicago mobster Al Capone for income tax evasion. Computer games were first developed by software programmers exercising their creativity on large systems at universities, but these efforts became commercially successful in arcade games such as Pong and Space Invaders. The early responses to the crisis were based upon the assumption that the free market would correct itself. World War II was already underway by the time the 1940s began, and it was definitely the big event of the first half of the decade. ", "World politics explainer: The fall of the Berlin Wall", "The forgotten story of how the Baltic states brought down the Soviet Union", "END OF THE SOVIET UNION; The Soviet State, Born of a Dream, Dies", "Cramming More Components onto Integrated Circuits", "A basic history of BASIC on its 50th birthday", "The History of the Computer Mouse - Computing History", "Memory & Storage | Timeline of Computer History | Computer History Museum", "How the computer changed the office forever", "Archive Gallery: The Rise of Personal Computers", "The complete history of the IBM PC, part one: The deal of the century", "Behind 'Halt and Catch Fire': Compaq's Rise to PC Domination", "The Incredible True Story Behind AMC's Halt And Catch Fire – How Compaq Cloned IBM And Created An Empire", "History of Software Patents, from Benson, Flook, and Diehr to Bilski and Prometheus (BitLaw)", "Evolution of Home Video Game Consoles: 1967 - 2011", "The Lost Civilization of Dial-Up Bulletin Board Systems", "A Brief History of the Internet & Related Networks", "Al Gore told us why he really should get credit for the internet", "25 Years of Tech: The Rise of the Internet -", "Where Are They Now: 17 Dot-Com Bubble Companies And Their Founders", "The Three Waves of Globalisation - Nordregio", "How the World Was Won: The Americanization of Everywhere review – a brilliant essay", "Anti-American Behavior in the Middle East: Evidence from a Field Experiment in Lebanon", "West Nile Virus: An Historical Overview", "Losing Earth: The Decade We Almost Stopped Climate Change", "What is the Kyoto protocol and has it made any difference? [117] After a long campaign of island hopping, the Allies were planning to use Kadena Air Base on the large island of Okinawa as a base for Operation Downfall, the planned invasion of the Japanese home islands which were only 340 miles away. ThoughtCo. [126][127] Regardless, persecution of Jews extended well before the war even started, such as in the Kristallnacht (literally "Crystal Night", Night of Broken Glass). It also included hardships like the Boxer Rebellion and the San Francisco Earthquake. Research our special sections on diverse subjects ranging from presidential elections to naval history. Your entry into all events in and prizes of the 20th centruy The failure of the League of Nations to prevent World War II essentially discredited the organization, and it was dissolved. New viruses such as SARS and West Nile continued to spread. [175], In Africa, nationalists such as Jomo Kenyatta of Kenya and Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana led their respective nations to independence from foreign rule. [163], Much of Western Europe was rebuilt after the war with assistance from the Marshall Plan. The tactics employed by the revolutionaries ranged from non-violent forms of protest to armed rebellions, depending on the nation involved. [129][130] As appalling as this sounds, they were the lucky ones.
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