World History in the Twentieth Century Essay # 3 Introduction (a road map for the paper. It should introduce the topic, present the thesis, and state the main points of the essay) The twentieth century has been alternately considered to be either the most advanced and culturally sophisticated hundred years in the history of the world, or the most disastrous and excessively inhumane period. A great deal has been written and spoken in an attempt to determine and document the cause(s) of the excesses of this especially brief but tumultuous one hundred years. One general theory suggests that the events of the twentieth century were a natural result of the cumulative developments of the previous century and a half. Another theory proposes that the occurrences of the twentieth century were so unprecedented and unique that they can only be explained as a radical departure from the past and a completely unique eccentricity in history. Thesis or argument (a position that can be reasonably opposed) A thesis is generally one or two sentences at the end of the introductory paragraph. The twentieth century represents both the culmination and product of modern historical processes, and a period that is a distinct, unique, and fundamentally different from previous centuries. The social, political, economic, scientific, and industrial developments of the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries combined with heretofore, never before envisioned applications of extremist ideology to create, at times, both cataclysm and utopia. This paper will examine the course of the twentieth century, chronicle the major accomplishments and the worst abuses, and explain how these events both followed from, and did not follow from the precedent setting late eighte... ... middle of paper ... ... earlier centuries, which impacted the twentieth century so greatly. Conclusion The twentieth century represents both the culmination and product of modern historical processes, and a period that is a distinct, unique, and fundamentally different from previous centuries. The social, political, economic, scientific, and industrial developments of the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries combined with heretofore, never before envisioned applications of extremist ideology to create, at times, both cataclysm and utopia. The twentieth century provided a unique arrangement of circumstance, the “perfect storm”, so to speak, where all of the previously existing ingredients could be combined to create a volatile mixture that surpassed anything the world had ever seen. This is the beauty and the tragedy of the twentieth century, and the above explains how it came about.
Several conflicting frames of mind have played defining roles in shaping humanity throughout the twentieth century. Philosophical optimism of a bright future held by humanity in general was taken advantage of by the promise of a better life through sacrifice of individuality to the state. In the books Brave New World, 1984, and Fahrenheit 451 clear opposition to these subtle entrapments was voiced in similarly convincing ways. They first all established, to varying degrees of balance, the atmosphere and seductiveness of the “utopia” and the fear of the consequences of acting in the non-prescribed way through character development. A single character is alienated because of their inability to conform – often in protest to the forced conditions of happiness and well being. Their struggle is to hide this fact from the state’s relentless supervision of (supposedly) everything. This leads them to eventually come into conflict with some hand of the state which serves as the authors voice presenting the reader with the ‘absurdity’ of the principles on which the society is based. The similar fear of the state’s abuse of power and technology at the expense of human individuality present within these novels speaks to the relevance of these novels within their historical context and their usefulness for awakening people to the horrendous consequences of their ignorance.
The following Essay must be a minimum of 5 paragraphs of 10-12 sentences each (a sentence is 10 words or more) .
Julian West, a man born and raised in the 19th century has suddenly appeared in the 20th century. Due to an apparent mishap in the 19th, his body was never awaken and remained in its mesmeric state. When he woke up, he found himself in a whole different society then he was living in. The economy, government, and the whole social structure were completely changed. To Julian, the 20th century became the perfect image of a utopian society. But the society of the 20th century has left behind the pride of individualism which was cherished in the 19th century. Therefore, this new society has not benefited the belief of individualism.
“The Life of the Times 1919 – 29.” Great Events of the 20th Century. Ed. Richard
In addition to various real-life instances where these factors have be observed, I shall be drawing extensively from the particular case of Will Baron, who has become a key speaker on the dangers of the New Age. It is of value for its contextual, in-depth examination of the duration of his entire experience with the New Age, from the earliest stages of involvement, to his total commitment of life and means, to his ultimate rejection of the philosophy of the New Age, as he was taught to understand it.
The 20th century brought about many changes, with several events molding society in the way we know of it today. With the Great Depression, World War 2 , and the Cold War, America faced many internal and external threats, that endangered the American way of life and forced the country to reshape it’s views to move past events that seemed, at the time, to be the lowest points.
The 20th century was a very dynamic period of history, from rapid advancement in technology, to world changing wars, to social upheaval the world was scarcely recognizable in the year 2000 from what it was in 1900. Like many time periods, the 20th century can be analyzed from a historical perspective as well as through its contemporary literature. Literature which is controversial is particularly exemplary of the discord in the 20th century. One such example is Valerie Solanas’s SCUM Manifesto 1967. The overall political statement of the manifesto is representative of the various social movements of the 20th century, specifically socialism/communism and feminism. Its discourse on war is immensely influenced
For a historian, the 20th century and all the historic events that it encompasses represents a utopia with endless sources of inspiration for the analysis of political figures, events and their consequences. Political figures such as Benito Mussolini of Italy, Adolf Hitler of Germany, Mao Zedong of China and Joseph Stalin of the Soviet Union are all names we are familiar with due to the time period that they influenced; this time period after the trauma and atrocities of World War I and the Great Depression led to completely new forms of government in Europe and beyond. These “manifestations of political evil”, commonly known as totalitarian states, should not be considered as mere extensions of already existing political systems, but rather as completely new forms of government built upon terror and ideological fiction. Therefore, this was also a time in which political philosophers such as Hannah Arendt, the author of the standard work on totalitarianism, “Origins of Totalitarianism”, could thrive. When looking at totalitarianism as a political philosophy, two initial questions have to be dealt with: what is totalitarianism and what kind of effect it had on countries ruled by totalitarian regimes. The reasons for its occurrence have briefly been mentioned above, although there are much deeper ideological, social and economic reasons including imperialism and anti-Semitism. In order to fully understand it, we must also contrast it to other political systems like authoritarianism and dictatorship, which are similar to a certain extent, but lack crucial elements that are in the core of totalitarian ideology. Out of the many examples of totalitarian regimes in the 20th century, Nazi Germany, Communist China and the Soviet Union stan...
John McNeill, in his informative book, Something New Under the Sun, he discusses how the twentieth century brought the world into a steady decline. Although the world has improved technology-wise, it has also had a decline that overshadows the improvement we have seen. McNeil goes on to prove that it is humans, with our new technology are the reason behind this fateful decline. The world’s population has positively and negatively affected the twentieth century world by bringing “ecological changes” that will forever change the world(4).
During the Twentieth-Century, there were several dramatic economic changes and events. Going from being a complete agricultural nation to being an industrial super, enduring a great depression, having a civil rights movement and so many more, the 20th Century carries the names of some of the world’s most important events. Although history has flourished with all of its game changers, the solute most important event of the 1900’s was World War 2. The second world war, just decades after the first, “was the most widespread and deadliest war in history, involving more than 300 countries and resulting in more than 50 million military and civilian dead,” according to History.com. After World War I had ended, the peace settlement known as the Treaty of Versailles, created in 1919, had a purpose of obligating Germany to relinquish territories to Belgium, Czechoslovakia, and Poland. However these new territories were very susceptible to aggression from its neighboring countries, Germany and the Soviet Union. During this time there was still a great deal of tension between the countries/ territories. Italy and Japan viewed the treaty as a failure to acknowledge the status of the two’s world powers. Also Germans saw that rather than being defeated at the close of World War I, they were betrayed. With the economy being exceptionally deprived and a great deal of political instability, this set the stage for dictatorships that according to Twentieth-Century America “offered territorial expansion by military conquest as a way to redress old rivalries, dominate trade and gain access to raw materials”. Countries such as Japan began making use of propaganda’s stressing that Japans “greatness” must be reassured. Italy’s Fascist dictator, Benito Mus...
During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, poor living conditions and disease plagued western civilization. Europeans had little control over their environment. The Old Regime way of life caused a fear of change and new ways of thinking were usually condemned. The economy of subsistence reflected the general outlook of society. Little or no growth took place. The mindset during this time period was, in fact, ìbetter safe than sorryî. Improvements, however, were made during the Industrial Revolution and throughout the twentieth centur...
The twentieth century was a time filled with conflict and struggle. During this time, the world experienced both of the World Wars, the Great Depression, multiple revolutions, and the Cold War. Many of these events caused trouble for the capitalist way of thinking, and often showed a different way of approaching economic situations. The dual revolution – capitalist-industrial and democratic – was one of the crucial factors in the defining periods of the twentieth century. During the twentieth century, the dual revolution prospered and pushed the world to the growth and standards that exist today.
In the twentieth century, musicians were very open to change. Many new styles and genres were made. In a way, they got rid of all of the rules and created new ones. Composers, trying new things, created ragtime, jazz. Some of the new approaches towards tonality were atonality, polytonality, neotonality and the twelve-tonal methods. Different styles were impressionism, expressionism, neoclassicism, primitivism and minimalism. Composers trying to create completely new sounds produced experimental music, spatial music, and electronic music. Not all composers aimed for completely new things. Some wanted to continue the traditions of old classical composers while also finding ways to make their music relevant in their time. All of these elements together are what characterize the twentieth century and what influences much of our music today.
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By the early twentieth century the belief in human progress and the progressive evolution of human history, which has been at the center of modern though since the Scientific Revolution of the seventeenth century, was being seriously challenged. Identify the main established concepts and traditions that were challenged, who the most influential challengers were, and the new theories, arguments, works, etc. that they produced