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Social Darwinism and Racism
Applying the idea of survival of the fittest to war and economic competition came to be known as Social Darwinism. Industrial tycoons, argued Social Darwinists, were more "fit" than those they put out of business. War brought progress by weeding out weak nations. Victory was seen as proof of superiority. Social Darwinism encouraged racism. By the late 1800s, many Europeans and Americans claimed that the success of Western civilization was due to the supremacy of the white race. -
The Harlem Renaissance
During the 1920s, an African American cultural awakening called the Harlem Renaissance began in Harlem, a neighborhood in New York City that was home to many African Americans. African American writers and artists expressed their pride in thier unique culture. Among those artists whose works achieved recognization were James Weldon Johnson, Jean Toomer, Zora Neale Hurston, Claude McKay, Langston Hughes, and Countee Cullen. -
The Red Scare and Isolationism in the United States
The United States emerged from World War I in good shape. A late entrant into the war, it had suffered relatively few casualities and little loss of property. However, the United States did experience some domestic unrest. Fear of radicals and the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia set off a "Red Scare" in 1919 and 1920. Police rounded up suspected foreign-born radicals, and a number were expelled from the U.S. As a result, Congress passed laws limiting immigration from Europe. -
The Great Depression
The wealth created during the 1920s in the Unired States was not shared evenly. Farmers and unskilled workers were on the losing end. A crisis in finance was brewing. The great depression, a painful time of global economic collapse, had begun quietly in the summer of 1929 with decreasing production. On october 29, 1929, the stock market crashed and aggravated the ecomoic decline. The ecomic problems quickly spread around the world. In 1932 and 1933, global world trade sank to its 1900 level. -
The Computer Revolution
The invention of the computer in the twentieth century caused an unprecedented information revolution. Very few aspects of modern life remain untouched by computers. Computer run business and power plants, help scientists conduct advanced research, and when connected to satellites, make global communication possible. The development of computer technology has given rise to the term "Information Age." -
V-E Day
By March 1945, the Allies had crossed the Rhine into western Germany. From the east, Soviet troops closed in on Berlin. All over Europe, Axis armies began to surrender. As Soviet troops fought their way into Berlin, Hitler committed suicide. On May 7, Germany surrendered. Officially, the war in Europe ended the next day, May 8, 1945, which was proclaimed V-E day (Victory in Europe). After 12 years, Hitler's "thousand-year Reich" was bomb-ravaged and in ruins. -
Berlin Wall
Cold war confrontation began in Europe, where the armies of the two superpowers (the U.S. and the Soviet Union) confronted each other after WWII. Berlin was a key focus of Cold War tensions. The city was split into democratic West Berlin and communist East Berlin, In the 1950s, West Berlin became a showcase for West German prosperity. A massive exodus of low-paid East Germans fled into West Berlin.To stop the flight, East Germany built a wall in 1961 that sealed off West Berlin. -
Gorbachev's Reforms
In 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev came to power in the Soviet Union. He sought to avoid Cold-War confrontation. He signed arms control treaties with the United States and pulled Soviet troops out of Afghanistan. At home, he called for glasnot, or openness. He also urged perestroika, or restructing, of the government and economy. His reforms, however, brought economic turmoil and fed unrest across the Soviet Empire. At the end of 1991, Gorbachev's policies brought an end to Soviet Union. -
The European Union
Like Nato, the European Economic Community expanded over the years to add the nations of Eastern Europe. In the 1990s, the group became the European Union and agreed on policies to promote a freer flow of capital, labor, and goods among European nations. In 2002, the euro became the common currency for most of Western Europe. The expanded EU allowed Europe to compete with economic superpowers like the United States and Japan.
