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WWI
WWI began in 1914 after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria. His death sent Europe into an immediate conflict that lasted until 1918, claiming more than 16 million soldiers and civilians. During the discord, Germany, Austria, Bulgaria, and the Ottoman Empire fought against Great Britain, France, Russia, Italy, Romania, Canada, Japan, and the US. Thanks to advancements in technology and the emergence of trench warfare, World War I became the first example of Modern Warfare. -
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Rise of Communism
Communism was adopted in Russia after the Russian Revolution, a series of revolutions that lasted throughout 1917. For centuries leading up to World War I, Russia was ruled by an absolute monarchy under which the lower classes had long suffered in poverty. This tension was exacerbated by the nationwide famine and loss of human lives as a result of World War I. After many revolutions, the Czar's orders no longer held any word to the Russian people and Lenin Bolskevik's party took control. -
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles, signed in 1919 at the Palace of Versailles in Paris at the end of World War I, codified peace terms between Germany and the victorious Allies. The Treaty of Versailles held Germany responsible for starting the war and imposed harsh penalties on the Germans, including loss of territory, massive reparations payments, and demilitarization. The Treaty of Versailles humiliated Germany while failing to resolve the underlying issues that had led to war in the first place. -
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The Stalin Era
Following the death of Lenin, Stalin rose to power through manipulation and fear, controlling the USSR and industrializing beyond measure. He consolidated agriculture and took Russia into a new era, at the cost of many of his people. -
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The Great Depression
The Great Depression was the worst economic downturn in the history of the industrialized world. It began after the stock market crash of October 1929, which sent Wall Street into a panic and wiped out millions of investors. Over the next several years, spending and investment dropped, causing steep declines in industrial output and employment. By 1933, when the Great Depression reached its lowest point, some 15 million Americans were unemployed and nearly half the country’s banks had failed. -
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Hitler
Hitler, the infamous leader of the Nazi Party, capitalized on economic woes, popular discontent, and political infighting to take absolute power in Germany beginning in 1933. Germany’s invasion of Poland in 1939 led to the outbreak of World War II, and by 1941 Nazi forces had occupied much of Europe. Hitler’s virulent anti-Semitism and obsessive pursuit of Aryan supremacy fueled the murder of some 6 million Jews. After the war turned against him, Hitler committed suicide in a bunker in 1945. -
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WWII
Hitler’s invasion of Poland in September 1939 drove Great Britain and France to declare war on Germany, marking the beginning of World War II. Among the estimated 45-60 million people killed were 6 million Jews murdered in Nazi concentration camps. World War II grew out of issues left unresolved by that earlier conflict. In particular, political and economic instability in Germany, and lingering resentment over the harsh terms imposed by the Versailles Treaty. -
Bretton Woods Conference
The Bretton Woods Conference, formally known as the United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference, was the gathering of 730 delegates from all 44 Allied nations at the Mount Washington Hotel, situated in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, United States, to regulate the international monetary and financial order after the conclusion of World War II. The conference was held from July 1 to 22, 1944. -
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. It was established along with the International Monetary Fund at the 1944 Bretton Woods Conference. After a slow start, its first loan was to France in 1947. In the 1970s, it focused on loans to developing world countries, shifting away from that mission in the 1980s. -
International Monetary Fund
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution, headquartered in Washington, D.C., consisting of 190 countries. Its stated mission is "working to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty around the world. Formed in 1944 and started in 1945. -
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General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade
The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is a legal agreement between many countries, whose overall purpose was to promote international trade by reducing or eliminating trade barriers such as tariffs or quotas. The GATT was first discussed during the United Nations Conference on Trade and Employment and was the outcome of the failure of negotiating governments to create the International Trade Organization (ITO). -
World Trade Organization
The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an intergovernmental organization that regulates and facilitates international trade. With effective cooperation in the United Nations System, governments use the organization to establish, revise, and enforce the rules that govern international trade. It officially commenced operations on 1 January 1995, pursuant to the 1994 Marrakesh Agreement, thus replacing the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) that had been established in 1948.