1894 - 1917 - The reign of Nicholas II
1904 - 1905 - Russo-Japanese War
1905 - 1907 - The first Russian revolution
1905, 9-19 - Moscow uprising
1908-1909 - Bosnian Crisis
1907-1912 - III State Duma
1912-1917 - IV State Duma
1914 -1918 - World War I
1917, end of August - Speech by Kornilov
1917, end of October - Armed uprising in Petrograd. II All-Russian Congress of Soviets of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies
1918 - Adoption of the Constitution of the RSFSR
1928-1932 - First five-year plan
1929, autumn - The beginning of collectivization
1939-1940 - Soviet-Finnish war
1939-1940 - Incorporation of the Baltic States into the USSR
1944 - The expulsion of the Nazis from the territory of the USSR
1954 - The beginning of the development of virgin lands
1962 - Cuban Missile Crisis
1965 - Beginning of economic reform
1968 - Prague Spring
1975 - Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe
1979-1989 - War in Afghanistan
1991, spring - Dissolution of the CMEA and the Department of Internal Affairs
2000 - .... – Board V.V. Putin
The 20th century is famous for many events that will undoubtedly leave an imprint on the coming centuries. Important events of the XX century characterize the last century as a dynamic and impetuous period in the history of mankind.
In our time, the time of grandiose social transformations, the need for a deep understanding of the patterns of social development is felt more acutely than ever, 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 comprehend this.
Key events that took place in the 20th century
What important and grandiose events took place in the 20th century?
World War I
A wave of revolutions that was initiated by two revolutions in Russia
The Second World War
Development and use of nuclear weapons
The Rise of Fascism and Its Fall
The collapse of the colonial system
Formation of the "third world"
Confrontation of blocs of countries with planned economies and countries with market economies
Formation, rise and crisis of the world communist movement
The collapse of totalitarian regimes
Proclamation by the world community of the equality of all people and recognition of the 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.
Emergence of knowledge-intensive sectors of the economy
This is important events of the 20th century which had a fundamental impact 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 clear 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 from the moment nuclear weapons were developed.
The spasmodic development of industry and the economy are also among the important events of the 20th century, because among all the changes that occurred thanks to the last century, it was they who brought the world to its present state. It is impossible to say unequivocally whether these events of the 20th century were useful or harmful, but they definitely should be classified as important.
The influence of important events of the 20th century on the future of mankind
Important events of the XX century is a prologue to our future in this century. Now it is very important to understand that a new era is beginning in the life of mankind. We must learn to listen to the new themes of history, to capture and support the germs of the future. Each time has its own values, worries and anxieties, its own prophets.
As A. Herzen noted:
“Ideas that have outlived their time can walk with a stick for a long time, they can even, like Christ, appear once or twice after death to their adherents, 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, of course, are in the understanding of how important events of the last century influenced the course of human history, in the awareness of the path that has already been traveled by mankind.
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 causes of the success and crisis of the communist movement.
The history of Russia is very diverse, ambiguous and enticing. This country has existed for hundreds of years, it has significantly contributed to the development of world history. Russia experienced a lot of crashes and falls, but it always got up from its knees and moved on towards a brighter future. Countless attempts to capture it were crowned with resounding failures, no one will ever be able to conquer this great power. The people staunchly stood for their independence and freedom, and no one bowed their heads before the lords and invaders. So today Russia is the leading country in the world in many different areas. This is astronautics, and 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 awaits her in the future? Everything depends on the Russian people, who have always amazed the whole world with their steadfastness and steadfastness.
1861 February 19 - the 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 marked the beginning of 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 tsar remained on the throne. During the period of the first revolution, the main revolutionaries of 1917 participated. 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's entry into World War 1
It is impossible not to touch 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 leading world empires collapsed - the Ottoman, German, German. In parallel 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 - an armed uprising in Petrograd (the transition of the soldiers of the Petrograd garrison to the side of the insurgent population).
These years were marked by the formation of the Provisional 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 Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
From now on, Russia left the battlefield. Now there was an urgent need to put an end to 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 stood on its feet and smoothly began to move towards development. The civil war was completely over. The USSR headed for a brighter future. The economy began to gradually grow, 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 - capitulation of Nazi Germany, Victory Day
May 9 - Victory Day. Victory Day! It was this holiday that was forever imprinted in the memory of absolutely every young and adult inhabitant of this great country. At the cost of millions of lives, the country gained such a desired victory over a bloodthirsty enemy. Now the USSR has proved that it is worth something!
1956, February - XX Congress of the CPSU
The congress was marked by the world-famous "dispelling of Stalin's personality cult." 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 has left its mark forever.
1991, December 8 - signing of the Bialowieza agreement
1991, December 8 - signing by B. N. Yeltsin (RSFSR), L. M. Kravchuk (Ukraine), S. S. Shushkevich (Belarus) of the Belovezhskaya agreement on the dissolution of the USSR.
This is the end of a great and powerful state. Seventy years of existence have not gone unnoticed. Russia again became the successor of the USSR. Again wars, enmity, 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 President of Russia Vladimir Putin. A radically new period in the history of Russia. The new head of state was able to bring the country out of a long-term crisis, out of practically ruins. The country's economy was raised several times, the armed forces became powerful again. Various space programs were re-deployed, 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 great discoveries and great catastrophes in it. States were created and destroyed, and revolutions and civil wars forced people to leave their native places in order to go to foreign lands, but at the same time save their lives. In art, the twentieth century also left an indelible mark, completely renewing it and creating completely new trends 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 broke out, and in Russia in 1905 the first, albeit ended in failure, revolution took place. This was the first war in the history of the 20th century, during which such weapons 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 gold rubles were spent from the treasury for the war - an amount that is fantastic today, but simply unthinkable in those days.
In the context of world 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 aftermath
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 civil war that followed it also left their mark. The Ottoman Empire, liquidated in 1922, and the German Empire in 1918 also ceased to exist. The Austro-Hungarian Empire lasted until 1918 and disintegrated into several independent states.
However, even within Russia, calm after the revolution did not come immediately. The civil war continued until 1922 and ended with the creation of the USSR, the collapse of which in 1991 will be another important event.
World War I
This war was the first so-called trench war, in which a huge amount of time was spent not so much on moving troops forward and capturing cities, but on pointless 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 military aviation, the formation of which actually took place during the hostilities, although aviator schools were created several years before it began. Together with aviation, forces were created that were supposed to fight it. This is how the air defense forces appeared.
The development of information and communication technologies has also been reflected on the battlefield. Information began to be transmitted from headquarters to the front ten times faster thanks to the construction of telegraph lines.
But this terrible war affected not only the development of material culture and technology. She found a place in art. The 20th century was a turning point for culture, when many old forms were rejected and replaced by new ones.
Art and literature
Culture on the eve of the First World War experienced an unprecedented rise, which resulted in the creation of a variety of trends in literature, as well as in painting, sculpture and cinema.
Perhaps the most striking and one of the most well-known artistic trends 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.
Along with Italy, futurism received the greatest distribution 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 visual arts, pictorial Futurism had Fauvism as its foundation, while 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 - World War II, which began a year and lasted until September 2, 1945. All the horrors that accompanied the war left an indelible mark on the memory of mankind.
Russia in the 20th century, like other European countries, experienced many terrible events, but none of them can be compared in its consequences with the Great Patriotic War, which was part of World War II. According to various sources, the number of victims of the war 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 blockade of Leningrad.
Cold war with former allies
Sixty-two sovereign states out of the seventy-three that existed at that time were drawn into the fighting on the fronts of the World War. The fighting was fought in Africa, Europe, the Middle East and Asia, the Caucasus and the Atlantic Ocean, as well as beyond the Arctic Circle.
World War II and the Cold War followed one after the other. 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 one were to tell the history of the twentieth century in terms of state history, it might sound like a long list of wars, revolutions, and unending violence, often against 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 on the other side 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 intra-party split and Mao's fears of losing his dominant position within the party hierarchy. As a result, it was decided to start an active struggle against those representatives of the party who were supporters of small property and private initiative. All of them were accused of counter-revolutionary propaganda and either shot or sent to prison. Thus began the mass terror, which lasted more than ten years, and the cult of personality of Mao Zedong.
space race
Space exploration was one of the most popular areas in the twentieth century. Although today people have already become accustomed to international cooperation in the field of high technologies 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 beginning of the fifties, both the USA and the USSR had samples of rocket technology, which served as prototypes for launch vehicles of a later time.
Despite the speed with which the 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 out in dense layers of the atmosphere.
Also, Soviet engineers were the first to launch the first living creature into orbit - a dog, and later a man. In April 1961, a rocket was launched from the Baikonur cosmodrome, in the cargo compartment of which was the Vostok-1 spacecraft, in which Yuri Gagarin was. Taking the first man into space was risky.
In the conditions of the race, space exploration could cost the cosmonaut his life, as in a hurry to get ahead of the Americans, Russian engineers made a number of rather risky decisions 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 could simply not have enough resources and technical developments.
The next frontier that had 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 at carrying out a manned expedition to the moon and landing a man on its surface.
As ambitious as this task may have seemed by the time the project began, it was accomplished in 1969 with the landing of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin. In total, within the framework of the program, six manned flights to the Earth's satellite were made.
Defeat of the socialist camp
The Cold War, as is known, ended with the defeat of the socialist countries not only in the arms race, but also in the 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 of Eastern and Central Europe, 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. November 9, 1989 is considered the date of the collapse of this symbol of totalitarianism.
Technological progress in the 20th century
The 20th 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 some of them deserve special mention because of their extreme importance for the development of human civilization.
The aircraft is certainly one of the inventions without which modern life is unthinkable. Despite the fact that people have dreamed of flying for many millennia, the first flight in the history of mankind was only possible 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 the 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, a single use of which plunged humanity into a horror that has not passed to this day.
Medicine in the 20th century
One of the main inventions of the 20th century is also considered the technology of artificial production of penicillin, thanks to which mankind was able to get rid of many infectious diseases. The scientist who discovered the bactericidal properties of the fungus was Alexander Fleming.
All the achievements of 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 give hope for the possibility of curing inherited diseases.
After the USSR
Russia in the 20th century experienced many catastrophes, among which were wars, including civil wars, 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 sovereign states were formed in its place, some of which plunged into civil war or into a war with their neighbors, and some, like the Baltic countries, quickly joined the European Union and started building an effective democratic state.
In 1903 Wilbur and Orville Wright built the Flyer airplane. The aircraft was equipped with a gasoline engine, and its first flight was made to a height of 3m and lasted for 12 seconds. In 1919 the first air line from Paris to London was opened. The maximum allowable number of passengers was , and the duration of the flight was 4 hours.