20TH CENTURY EUROPE

Second Industrial Revolution

A period of rapid technological advancement and industrial growth from 1900 to 1913, marked by innovations in transportation and communication.

Balkan Tensions

A region characterized by nationalist movements against Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian control, contributing to pre-World War I conflicts.

World War I

A global war from 1914 to 1918, triggered by the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, involving Allied and Central Powers.

Treaty of Versailles

The 1919 treaty that ended World War I, imposing harsh reparations on Germany and contributing to future resentments.

Russian Revolution

The 1917 uprising that led to the establishment of the Soviet Union, the world's first communist state.

Totalitarianism

A political system where the state recognizes no limits to its authority, exemplified by Mussolini in Italy and Hitler in Germany.

League of Nations

An intergovernmental organization created after World War I aimed at preventing future conflicts, but lacked enforcement power.

Axis Powers

The coalition of Germany, Italy, and Japan during World War II, opposing the Allied Powers.

Holocaust

The systematic genocide during World War II where six million Jews and millions of others were killed.

Iron Curtain

A metaphorical division that represented the ideological conflict between capitalist Western Europe and communist Eastern Europe.

Marshall Plan

U.S. economic aid initiative launched in 1948 to help rebuild Western European economies after World War II.

Decolonization

The process through which many European empires granted independence to their colonies in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East.

European Union (EU)

A political and economic union established by the Maastricht Treaty in 1993, promoting integration and a single market.

Glasnost

A policy of openness initiated by Mikhail Gorbachev in the Soviet Union in the 1980s, aimed at transparency in government.

Fall of the Berlin Wall

The 1989 event that symbolized the collapse of communist regimes in Eastern Europe and the beginning of German reunification.

Yugoslav Wars

Ethnic conflicts occurring from 1991 to 2001 after the breakup of Yugoslavia, marked by violence and atrocities.