7. The impact of World War II and the Holocaust (middle to late 1900's)

The rise of Nazism in Germany led to World War II and the Holocaust. These events, even more than World War I, revealed how cruel and savage "civilized" people could be. After the war ended in 1945, America took its place as the dominant world power, and people could speak, in publisher Henry Luce's phrase, of "the American century." In revulsion from the Holocaust, the state of Israel was founded, leading to wars and tension in the Middle East.

 

Donald G. Marshall is a Professor and the Head of the Department of English at the University of Illinois at Chicago. His top 10 events of the 1900's reflect a general historical approach. Professor Marshall emphasizes the impact of technology on the century and points out one chilling effect : "The fear that humankind's highest scientific achievements will destroy us becomes very real."

1.

The rise and fall of Communism in Russia (1917-1991)
2. The invention of electronic communications media (early to middle 1900's)
3. The collapse of colonialism and the struggle for racial equality (middle to late 1900's)
4.

The development of the automobile and the airplane (early 1900's)
5. The development of the computer (middle to late 1900's)
6. The new physics (throughout the 1900's)
7. The impact of World War II and the Holocaust (middle to late 1900's)
8. The development of biomedical science (mid-1900's)
9. The emergence of "modern" architecture, art, literature, and music (throughout the 1900's)
10. The outbreak of World War I (1914-1918)