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Old World & New World · Article 17 of 22 · 19⁠14–19⁠45

World wars shattered empires and industrialized killing

People & builders: Gavrilo Princip (18⁠94–19⁠18); Woodrow Wilson (18⁠56–19⁠24); Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (18⁠81–19⁠38); Adolf Hitler (18⁠89–19⁠45); Franklin D. Roosevelt (18⁠82–19⁠45)

A regional crisis became a global war

The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo on 28 June 19⁠14 triggered a crisis within a system of alliances, military plans and imperial rivalries. The First World War drew soldiers and resources from European empires and their colonies. Mass artillery, machine guns, submarines and chemical weapons gave industrial production a terrible military role. Colonial soldiers fought in campaigns whose political consequences reached far beyond Europe.

Revolution in Russia in 19⁠17 helped remove the tsarist government and ultimately bring Vladimir Lenin’s Bolsheviks to power. The Ottoman, German, Habsburg and Russian imperial orders all collapsed or changed fundamentally. U.S. President Woodrow Wilson argued for a League of Nations, but his visions of national self-determination did not translate into equal independence for every colonized people.

Peace treaties left borders contested

The 19⁠19 Versailles settlement dealt with Germany but did not resolve every grievance left by the war. Mandates established under the League of Nations transferred oversight of some former Ottoman and German territories to victorious powers instead of creating immediate independence. Mustafa Kemal’s movement fought the terms imposed after the Ottoman defeat and founded the Republic of Turkey in 19⁠23.

The Great Depression after 19⁠29 undermined economies and confidence in political institutions. In Germany, Adolf Hitler became chancellor in January 19⁠33 and the Nazi regime dismantled democratic opposition. Its racial ideology, territorial expansion and campaigns of persecution were not unavoidable consequences of economic crisis; identifiable political actors made and enforced those policies.

The second war changed the meaning of international security

Germany invaded Poland in September 19⁠39; Japan’s war in China had already intensified after 19⁠37. During World War II the Nazi regime and collaborators murdered six million Jews in the Holocaust, alongside the persecution and killing of many others. In Asia and the Pacific, occupation and warfare brought mass civilian suffering. The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 19⁠45 introduced an unprecedented destructive threat.

By 19⁠45 Europe’s old imperial powers were weakened, the United States and Soviet Union held extraordinary influence, and anti-colonial demands were growing. The founding of the United Nations reflected a desire to prevent another catastrophe. It could not erase the war’s dead, restore destroyed communities or guarantee that powerful governments would always honor its principles.

Dates & turning points

  • 28 June 19⁠14: Franz Ferdinand is assassinated at Sarajevo.
  • 19⁠17: Revolution overthrows Russian monarchy and Bolsheviks seize power later in the year.
  • 19⁠19–19⁠23: Peace settlements and the founding of Turkey redraw political boundaries.
  • 19⁠33: Hitler becomes German chancellor; Nazi dictatorship follows.
  • 19⁠39–19⁠45: World War II includes genocide, mass civilian deaths and the introduction of atomic weapons.

Historical references