Important events of the 20th century. Chronology of the most important events in history. 20th century The most important event of the 20th century in the world

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The most comprehensive reference table of major dates and events Russian history of the 20th century from 1900 to 1940. This table is convenient for schoolchildren and applicants to use for self-study, in preparation for tests, exams and the Unified State Exam in history.

The 20th century is famous for many events that will undoubtedly leave their mark on the coming centuries. Important events of the 20th century characterize the last century as a dynamic and rapid period in the history of mankind.

In our time - a time of grandiose social transformations, the need for a deep understanding of the laws of social development is felt more than ever before, and, perhaps, the deficit of socio-political thought today is the most acute deficit. An analysis of the events of the 20th century will help to understand this.

Key events that occurred in the 20th century

What important and grandiose events took place in the 20th century?

World War I

A wave of revolutions, which began with two revolutions in Russia

The Second World War

Development and use of nuclear weapons

The rise of fascism and its collapse

Collapse of the colonial system

Formation of the "Third World"

Confrontation between blocs of countries with planned economies and countries with market economies

Formation, rise and crisis of the world communist movement

Collapse of totalitarian regimes

Proclamation by the world community of the equality of all people and recognition of norms of relations between states based on the equality of all peoples

Technological breakthrough in all areas of science and industry

The transition of almost all countries of the world to a market economy.

The emergence of knowledge-intensive sectors of the economy

This important events of the 20th century, which had a fundamental influence on the development of modern civilization. For future generations, thanks to these events, a base has been formed, a foundation for further development. The events of the 20th century make it possible to understand that the military method of solving problems in the country is not the most correct and ultimately leads to the collapse of the state in modern conditions, especially since the moment nuclear weapons were developed.

The abrupt development of industry and economics are also important events of the 20th century, since among all the changes that occurred due to the last century, they were the ones that led the world to its present state. It is impossible to say definitively whether these events of the 20th century were beneficial or harmful, but they should definitely be considered important.

The impact of important events of the 20th century on the future of humanity

Important events of the 20th century- this is a prologue to our future in the current century. Now it is very important to understand that a new era is beginning in the life of humanity. We need to learn to listen to new themes of history, to capture and support the shoots of the future. Each time has its own values, concerns and anxieties, its own prophets.

As A. Herzen noted:

“Ideas that have outlived their time can walk around with a stick for a long time, they can even, like Christ, appear to their adepts once or twice after death, but it is difficult for them to take control of life again and lead it.”

What events of the 20th century should determine our guidelines today? What ideas should inspire us? The origins of the answer to these questions undoubtedly lie in understanding how important events of the last century influenced the course of human history, in understanding the path that humanity has already traversed.

Perhaps the most significant event of the 20th century is the emergence of such a powerful superpower as the USSR. Without it, it is impossible to understand the history of the 20th century, and it is very important to understand the reasons for the successes and crises of the communist movement.

The development of world history was not linear. At each stage there were events and periods that can be called “turning points.” They changed both geopolitics and people’s worldviews.

1. Neolithic revolution (10 thousand BC - 2 thousand BC)

The term “Neolithic revolution” was introduced in 1949 by the English archaeologist Gordon Childe. Child called its main content the transition from an appropriating economy (hunting, gathering, fishing) to a producing economy (farming and cattle breeding). According to archaeological data, the domestication of animals and plants occurred at different times independently in 7-8 regions. The earliest center of the Neolithic revolution is considered to be the Middle East, where domestication began no later than 10 thousand years BC.

2. Creation of the Mediterranean civilization (4 thousand BC)

The Mediterranean region was the birthplace of the first civilizations. The appearance of the Sumerian civilization in Mesopotamia dates back to the 4th millennium BC. e. In the same 4th millennium BC. e. Egyptian pharaohs consolidated the lands in the Nile Valley, and their civilization quickly expanded across the Fertile Crescent to the eastern coast of the Mediterranean and beyond throughout the Levant. This made Mediterranean countries such as Egypt, Syria and Lebanon part of the cradle of civilization.

3. Great Migration of Peoples (IV-VII centuries)

The Great Migration of Peoples became a turning point in history, defining the transition from antiquity to the Middle Ages. Scientists are still arguing about the causes of the Great Migration, but its consequences turned out to be global.

Numerous Germanic (Franks, Lombards, Saxons, Vandals, Goths) and Sarmatian (Alans) tribes moved to the territory of the weakening Roman Empire. The Slavs reached the Mediterranean and Baltic coasts and settled part of the Peloponnese and Asia Minor. The Turks reached Central Europe, the Arabs began their campaigns of conquest, during which they conquered the entire Middle East to the Indus, North Africa and Spain.

4. Fall of the Roman Empire (5th century)

Two powerful blows - in 410 by the Visigoths and in 476 by the Germans - crushed the seemingly eternal Roman Empire. This jeopardized the achievements of ancient European civilization. The crisis of Ancient Rome did not come suddenly, but had been brewing from within for a long time. The military and political decline of the empire, which began in the 3rd century, gradually led to the weakening of centralized power: it could no longer manage the sprawling and multinational empire. The ancient state was replaced by feudal Europe with its new organizing center - the “Holy Roman Empire”. Europe plunged into the abyss of turmoil and discord for several centuries.

5. Schism of the church (1054)

In 1054, the final split of the Christian Church into Eastern and Western occurred. Its reason was the desire of Pope Leo IX to obtain territories that were subordinate to Patriarch Michael Cerullarius. The result of the dispute was mutual church curses (anathemas) and public accusations of heresy. The Western Church was called Roman Catholic (Roman Universal Church), and the Eastern Church was called Orthodox. The path to the Schism was long (almost six centuries) and began with the so-called Acacian schism of 484.

6. Little Ice Age (1312-1791)

The beginning of the Little Ice Age, which began in 1312, led to an entire environmental catastrophe. According to experts, during the period from 1315 to 1317, almost a quarter of the population died out in Europe due to the Great Famine. Hunger was a constant companion of people throughout the Little Ice Age. During the period from 1371 to 1791, there were 111 famine years in France alone. In 1601 alone, half a million people died in Russia from famine due to crop failures.

However, the Little Ice Age gave the world more than just famine and high mortality. It also became one of the reasons for the birth of capitalism. Coal became the source of energy. For its extraction and transportation, workshops with hired workers began to be organized, which became a harbinger of the scientific and technological revolution and the birth of a new formation of social organization - capitalism. Some researchers (Margaret Anderson) also associate the settlement of America with the consequences of the Little Ice Age - people came for a better life from "God-forsaken" Europe.

7. Age of Great Geographical Discoveries (XV-XVII centuries)

The Age of Great Geographical Discovery radically expanded the ecumene of humanity. In addition, it created the opportunity for leading European powers to make the most of their overseas colonies, exploiting their human and natural resources and extracting fabulous profits from it. Some scholars also directly link the triumph of capitalism with transatlantic trade, which gave rise to commercial and financial capital.

8. Reformation (XVI-XVII centuries)

The beginning of the Reformation is considered to be the speech of Martin Luther, Doctor of Theology at the University of Wittenberg: on October 31, 1517, he nailed his “95 Theses” to the doors of the Wittenberg Castle Church. In them he spoke out against the existing abuses of the Catholic Church, in particular against the sale of indulgences.
The Reformation process gave rise to many so-called Protestant Wars, which seriously influenced the political structure of Europe. Historians consider the signing of the Peace of Westphalia in 1648 to be the end of the Reformation.

9. The Great French Revolution (1789-1799)

The French Revolution, which broke out in 1789, not only transformed France from a monarchy into a republic, but also summed up the collapse of the old European order. Its slogan: “Freedom, equality, brotherhood” excited the minds of revolutionaries for a long time. The French Revolution not only laid the foundations for the democratization of European society - it appeared as a brutal machine of senseless terror, the victims of which were about 2 million people.

10. Napoleonic Wars (1799-1815)

Napoleon's irrepressible imperial ambitions plunged Europe into chaos for 15 years. It all started with the invasion of French troops in Italy, and ended with an inglorious defeat in Russia. Being a talented commander, Napoleon, nevertheless, did not disdain the threats and intrigues with which he subjugated Spain and Holland to his influence, and also convinced Prussia to join the alliance, but then unceremoniously betrayed its interests.

During the Napoleonic Wars, the Kingdom of Italy, the Grand Duchy of Warsaw and a number of other small territorial entities appeared on the map. The commander's final plans included the division of Europe between two emperors - himself and Alexander I, as well as the overthrow of Britain. But the inconsistent Napoleon himself changed his plans. The defeat in 1812 by Russia led to the collapse of Napoleonic plans in the rest of Europe. The Treaty of Paris (1814) returned France to its former 1792 borders.

11. Industrial revolution (XVII-XIX centuries)

The Industrial Revolution in Europe and the USA made it possible to move from an agricultural society to an industrial one over the course of a lifetime in just 3-5 generations. The invention of the steam engine in England in the second half of the 17th century is considered to be the conventional beginning of this process. Over time, steam engines began to be used in manufacturing, and then as a propulsion mechanism for steam locomotives and steamships.
The main achievements of the era of the Industrial Revolution can be considered the mechanization of labor, the invention of the first conveyors, machine tools, and the telegraph. The advent of railways was a huge step.

The Second World War took place on the territory of 40 countries, and 72 states took part in it. According to some estimates, 65 million people died in it. The war significantly weakened Europe's position in global politics and economics and led to the creation of a bipolar system in world geopolitics. Some countries were able to achieve independence during the war: Ethiopia, Iceland, Syria, Lebanon, Vietnam, Indonesia. Socialist regimes were established in the countries of Eastern Europe occupied by Soviet troops. World War II also led to the creation of the UN.

14. Scientific and technological revolution (mid-20th century)

The scientific and technological revolution, the onset of which is usually attributed to the middle of the last century, made it possible to automate production, entrusting the control and management of production processes to electronics. The role of information has seriously increased, which also allows us to talk about an information revolution. With the advent of rocket and space technology, human exploration of near-Earth space began.

The history of Russia is very diverse, ambiguous and fascinating. This country has existed for hundreds of years and has significantly contributed to the development of world history. Russia has experienced a lot of collapses and falls, but it always got up from its knees and moved on to a bright future. Countless attempts to capture it have ended in resounding failures; no one will ever be able to conquer this great power. The people stood steadfastly for their independence and freedom and no one bowed their heads to the lords and invaders. Today, Russia is a leading country in the world in many different areas. This includes astronautics, mechanical engineering and much more.

The twentieth century was marked for Russia and a number of other countries by terrible and bloody wars, which unfortunately claimed millions of human lives. After the end of the Second World War, Russia as part of the USSR continued its rapid development in absolutely all sectors, this was the case until the collapse of this great and indestructible power. A decade has passed, a very difficult decade, and now Russia is again zealously striving forward, towards a bright and carefree future. What's next for her? Everything depends on the Russian people, who have always amazed the whole world with their resilience and steadfastness.

1861 February 19 - abolition of serfdom

A significant date for the entire Russian people, from now on the country was free from the shackles of slavery. This year began a new stage in Russian history. The internecine wars were over. A truly strong and wise empress ascended the throne, who managed to raise Russia from its knees and achieve its greatness and respect in Europe.

1905-1907 - the first Russian revolution

The bloody revolution ended in failure. The autocracy was not overthrown and the king remained on the throne. The main revolutionaries of nineteen seventeen took part in the period of the first revolution. This young generation of rebels and reformers tried in every possible way to change the political system that had reigned in Russia for many centuries

1914, August 1 - Russia entered World War I

It is impossible not to touch upon this event. The first war of the imperialists in history ended with monstrous human losses in the first place. As a result of this war, the world's leading empires collapsed - Ottoman, German, German. Along with the war, Russia was also experiencing a great revolution. This period was extremely difficult for the country, but in the end we all know that the most powerful state on the planet was formed

1917, February 27 - uprising in Petrograd

1917, February 27 - armed uprising in Petrograd (soldiers of the Petrograd garrison went over to the side of the rebel population).

These years were marked by the formation of the Temporary Committee of the State Duma and the election of the Petrograd Soviet. Unanimous victory in the elections to the Petrograd Soviet of the Socialist Revolutionaries and Mensheviks. A new stage in the history of the Great Power.

1918, March 3 - signing of the Brest-Litovsk Peace Treaty

From now on, Russia left the battlefield. There was now an urgent need to end the outbreak of civil war and bring the country's economy to growth. After the signing of the treaty, one of the stones oppressing Russia fell asleep.

The great power found its feet and smoothly began to move towards development. The civil war was completely over. The USSR set a course for a bright future. The economy began to gradually grow, and the wounds from the civil war began to gradually heal.

1941, June 22 - 1945, May 9 - Great Patriotic War

The most terrible war in the history of mankind began on this wonderful summer and carefree day. For four long years, the people fought fiercely against the Nazi invaders, who treacherously invaded the territory of the USSR.

1945, May 8-9 - surrender of Nazi Germany, victory day

May 9 is Victory Day. Victory Day! It is this holiday that is forever imprinted in the memory of absolutely every young and adult resident of this great country. At the cost of millions of lives, the country achieved the desired victory over the bloodthirsty enemy. Now the USSR has proven that it is worth something!

1956, February - XX Congress of the CPSU

The congress was marked by the world-famous “dispelling of the personality cult of Stalin.” Nikita Khrushchev literally shocked everyone present with his fiery speech. This is a new stage in the history of Russia and the entire USSR. This so-called thaw period left its mark forever.

1991, December 8 - signing of the Belovezhskaya Agreement

1991, December 8 - signing by B. N. Yeltsin (RSFSR), L. M. Kravchuk (Ukraine), S. S. Shushkevich (Belarus) of the Belovezhsky Agreement on the dissolution of the USSR.

This is the end of a great and powerful power. Seventy years of existence have not remained without a trace. Russia again became the right successor of the USSR. Again wars, hostility, political and economic crises. All this accompanied the country throughout the difficult nineties against the backdrop of total devastation, the war in Chechnya and much more.

year 2000

Election of Vladimir Putin as Russian President. A radically new period in the history of Russia. The new head of state was able to lead the country out of a long-term crisis, out of virtual ruin. The country's economy was boosted several times, the armed forces became powerful again. Various space programs were re-launched, and the country moved forward again! Now everything depends on the people of Russia, their fate belongs to them and no one else!

The history of the 20th century was full of events of a very different nature - there were both great discoveries and great disasters. States were created and destroyed, and revolutions and civil wars forced people to leave their homes in order to go to foreign lands, but save their lives at the same time. In art, the twentieth century also left an indelible mark, completely updating it and creating completely new directions and schools. There were great achievements in science as well.

World history of the 20th century

The 20th century began for Europe with very sad events - the Russo-Japanese War happened, and in Russia in 1905 the first revolution, albeit one that ended in failure, took place. This was the first war in the history of the 20th century in which weapons such as destroyers, battleships and heavy long-range artillery were used.

The Russian Empire lost this war and suffered colossal human, financial and territorial losses. However, the Russian government decided to enter into peace negotiations only when more than two billion rubles in gold were spent from the treasury on the war - a fantastic amount even today, but in those days simply unthinkable.

In the context of global history, this war was just another clash of colonial powers in the struggle for the territory of a weakened neighbor, and the role of the victim fell to the weakening Chinese Empire.

Russian Revolution and its consequences

One of the most significant events of the 20th century, of course, was the February and October revolutions. The fall of the monarchy in Russia caused a whole series of unexpected and incredibly powerful events. The liquidation of the empire was followed by the defeat of Russia in the First World War, the separation from it of such countries as Poland, Finland, Ukraine and the countries of the Caucasus.

For Europe, the revolution and the subsequent Civil War also did not pass without a trace. The Ottoman Empire, liquidated in 1922, and the German Empire in 1918 also ceased to exist. The Austro-Hungarian Empire lasted until 1918 and broke up into several independent states.

However, within Russia, calm did not come immediately after the revolution. The civil war lasted until 1922 and ended with the creation of the USSR, the collapse of which in 1991 would be another important event.

World War I

This war was the first so-called trench warfare, in which a huge amount of time was spent not so much on moving troops forward and capturing cities, but on meaningless waiting in the trenches.

In addition, artillery was used en masse, chemical weapons were used for the first time, and gas masks were invented. Another important feature was the use of combat aviation, the formation of which actually took place during the fighting, although aviator schools were created several years before it began. Along with aviation, forces were created that were supposed to fight it. This is how the air defense troops appeared.

Developments in information and communications technology have also found their way onto the battlefield. Information began to be transmitted from headquarters to the front tens of times faster thanks to the construction of telegraph lines.

But not only the development of material culture and technology was affected by this terrible war. There was also a place for it in art. The twentieth century was a turning point for culture when many old forms were rejected and new ones replaced them.

Arts and literature

Culture on the eve of the First World War was experiencing an unprecedented rise, which resulted in the creation of a variety of movements both in literature and in painting, sculpture and cinema.

Perhaps the brightest and one of the most well-known artistic movements in art was futurism. Under this name it is customary to unite a number of movements in literature, painting, sculpture and cinema, which trace their genealogy to the famous manifesto of Futurism, written by the Italian poet Marinetti.

Futurism became most widespread, along with Italy, in Russia, where such literary communities of futurists as “Gilea” and OBERIU appeared, the largest representatives of which were Khlebnikov, Mayakovsky, Kharms, Severyanin and Zabolotsky.

As for the fine arts, pictorial futurism had Fauvism as its foundation, while also borrowing a lot from the then popular cubism, which was born in France at the beginning of the century. In the 20th century, the history of art and politics are inextricably linked, as many avant-garde writers, painters and filmmakers drew up their own plans for the reconstruction of the society of the future.

The Second World War

The history of the 20th century cannot be complete without a story about the most catastrophic event - the Second World War, which began a year ago and lasted until September 2, 1945. All the horrors that accompanied the war left an indelible mark in the memory of mankind.

Russia in the 20th century, like other European countries, experienced many terrible events, but none of them can compare in their consequences with the Great Patriotic War, which was part of the Second World War. According to various sources, the number of war victims in the USSR reached twenty million people. This number includes both military and civilian residents of the country, as well as numerous victims of the siege of Leningrad.

Cold War with Former Allies

Sixty-two sovereign states out of seventy-three that existed at that time were drawn into hostilities on the fronts of the World War. The fighting took place in Africa, Europe, the Middle East and Asia, the Caucasus and the Atlantic Ocean, as well as the Arctic Circle.

The Second World War and the Cold War followed one another. Yesterday's allies became first rivals, and later enemies. Crises and conflicts followed one after another for several decades, until the Soviet Union ceased to exist, thereby putting an end to the competition between the two systems - capitalist and socialist.

Cultural Revolution in China

If we tell the history of the twentieth century in terms of national history, it can sound like a long list of wars, revolutions and endless violence, often inflicted on completely random people.

By the mid-sixties, when the world had not yet fully comprehended the consequences of the October Revolution and the Civil War in Russia, another revolution unfolded at the other end of the continent, which went down in history under the name of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution.

The cause of the Cultural Revolution in the PRC is considered to be an internal party split and Mao’s fear of losing his dominant position within the party hierarchy. As a result, it was decided to begin an active struggle against those party representatives who were supporters of small property and private initiative. All of them were accused of counter-revolutionary propaganda and were either shot or sent to prison. Thus began mass terror that lasted more than ten years and the cult of personality of Mao Zedong.

Space Race

Space exploration was one of the most popular trends in the twentieth century. Although today people have become accustomed to international cooperation in the field of high technology and space exploration, at that time space was an arena of intense confrontation and fierce competition.

The first frontier for which the two superpowers fought was near-Earth orbit. By the early fifties, both the USA and the USSR had samples of rocket technology that served as prototypes for launch vehicles of a later time.

Despite all the speed with which they worked, Soviet rocket scientists were the first to put the cargo into orbit, and on October 4, 1957, the first man-made satellite appeared in Earth orbit, which made 1440 orbits around the planet, and then burned up in the dense layers of the atmosphere.

Also, Soviet engineers were the first to launch the first living creature into orbit - a dog, and later a person. In April 1961, a rocket launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, in the cargo compartment of which there was the Vostok-1 spacecraft, in which Yuri Gagarin was. The event of launching the first man into space was risky.

In the conditions of the race, space exploration could cost an astronaut his life, since in a hurry to get ahead of the Americans, Russian engineers made a number of decisions that were quite risky from a technical point of view. However, both takeoff and landing were successful. So the USSR won the next stage of the competition, called the Space Race.

Flights to the Moon

Having lost the first few stages in space exploration, American politicians and scientists decided to set themselves a more ambitious and difficult task, for which the Soviet Union might simply not have had enough resources and technical developments.

The next milestone that needed to be taken was the flight to the Moon - the natural satellite of the Earth. The project, called Apollo, was initiated in 1961 and aimed to carry out a manned expedition to the Moon and land a man on its surface.

No matter how ambitious this task seemed at the time the project began, it was solved in 1969 with the landing of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin. In total, six manned flights to the earth's satellite were made as part of the program.

Defeat of the socialist camp

The Cold War, as we know, ended with the defeat of the socialist countries not only in the arms race, but also in economic competition. There is a consensus among most leading economists that the main reasons for the collapse of the USSR and the entire socialist camp were economic.

Despite the fact that in some countries there is widespread resentment regarding the events of the late eighties and early nineties, for most countries in Eastern and Central Europe the liberation from Soviet domination turned out to be extremely favorable.

The list of the most important events of the 20th century invariably contains a line mentioning the fall of the Berlin Wall, which served as a physical symbol of the division of the world into two hostile camps. The date of the collapse of this symbol of totalitarianism is considered to be November 9, 1989.

Technological progress in the 20th century

The twentieth century was rich in inventions; never before had technological progress progressed at such a speed. Hundreds of very significant inventions and discoveries have been made over a hundred years, but a few of them are worthy of special mention because of their extreme importance for the development of human civilization.

One of the inventions without which modern life is unthinkable is, of course, the airplane. Despite the fact that people have dreamed of flight for many millennia, the first flight in human history was accomplished only in 1903. This achievement, fantastic in its consequences, belongs to the brothers Wilbur and Orville Wright.

Another important invention related to aviation was the backpack parachute, designed by St. Petersburg engineer Gleb Kotelnikov. It was Kotelnikov who received a patent for his invention in 1912. Also in 1910, the first seaplane was designed.

But perhaps the most terrible invention of the twentieth century was the nuclear bomb, the single use of which plunged humanity into horror that has not passed to this day.

Medicine in the 20th century

The technology of artificial production of penicillin is also considered one of the main inventions of the 20th century, thanks to which humanity was able to get rid of many infectious diseases. The scientist who discovered the bactericidal properties of the fungus was Alexander Fleming.

All advances in medicine in the twentieth century were inextricably linked with the development of such fields of knowledge as physics and chemistry. After all, without the achievements of fundamental physics, chemistry or biology, the invention of the X-ray machine, chemotherapy, radiation and vitamin therapy would have been impossible.

In the 21st century, medicine is even more closely connected with high-tech branches of science and industry, which opens up truly fascinating prospects in the fight against diseases such as cancer, HIV and many other intractable diseases. It is worth noting that the discovery of the DNA helix and its subsequent decoding also allows us to hope for the possibility of curing inherited diseases.

After the USSR

Russia in the 20th century experienced many disasters, including wars, including civil ones, the collapse of the country and revolutions. At the end of the century, another extremely important event happened - the Soviet Union ceased to exist, and in its place sovereign states were formed, some of which plunged into civil war or war with their neighbors, and some, like the Baltic countries, quickly joined the European Union and began building an effective democratic state.