From
the start of the 20th century, rapid changes in society, in science
and technology, and in everyday life occurred. It was the age of aircraft,
television, space rockets, computers and genetic engineering. The world’s
population increased dramatically to over six billion people today. Many of
these people were poor and hungry, with others living in comfort and luxury.
In many countries people demanded equal rights and
there were many revolutions. The Russian Revolution in 1917 made some people
believe that Communism would be the new world order. Anti- communist
revolutions in eastern Europe in the 1980s and 1990s showed this was not so.
There were two world wars (1914-18 and 1939-45), and many smaller wars. World
War I ended in defeat for Germany and its allies, but the peace that followed
did not last long.
World War II was the most costly war of all time, and
the most horrific.
By 1950, the United States was the strongest power, for
a while challenged by the Communist Soviet Union in what became known as the
Cold War. Europe, badly damaged by war, reshaped itself as the European Union.
Japan modernized and became an industrial powerhouse. Old empires ended, and
new alliances were made. New independent nations joined the United nations,
including India and the New countries of Africa. China emerged from years of
isolation.
New developments such as the internet, satellite TV and
world tourism made the world seem smaller. Problems in one country often
affected others. Global concerns, such as the threat to the tropical
rainforests or fast-dwindling oil supplies, could not be contained within
national borders. Terrorism a new threat to peace. So fast is the pace of
change that it is hard to predict what the world will be like when the 21st
century draws to a close.
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