The History of the Twentieth Century

Influenza has plagued the human race for some 12,000 years. It is caused by a virus, an infectious agent barely understo... Read more

We take a brief look at the world as it is on 1 January 1901--the birthday of the twentieth century.

The Great War was by no means restricted to Europe. In this episode, we begin an occasional series examining the war in ... Read more

The small Balkan states have been coming together in alliance. Originally defensive, the allies came to a secret agreeme... Read more

Italy has been angling to secure Libya as a colonial possession for some time now. But war fever broke out in 1911, part... Read more

Germany is pretty much a world leader in everything at the beginning of the 20th century. 13 Nobel Prizes in 10 years. T... Read more

When the Great War began, Russian political factions mostly united in a common front to support the war effort, as polit... Read more

Explorers came to the far north first, in search of a route to the Far East, and later in search of the North Pole itsel... Read more

In 1914, Germany and Britain held adjacent colonial territories in East Africa. When the Great War began, Britain attemp... Read more

The influenza virus that emerged in 1918 was more deadly than was typical for the disease. Because of the Great War, the... Read more

With political resentments already high, the deprivations of the harsh winter of 1916-17 cause them to boil over. The Ru... Read more

In 1914, with victory against the Turks secured, Serb nationalist extremists look north toward Austria.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...

By the beginning of the twentieth century, the USA was the major market for Central American coffee, cotton, sugar, and ... Read more

By 1916, both sides in the Great War had declared their desire to see an independent Poland after the war. Now the time ... Read more

The US entered the war in early 1917, but it would take time for her to have an impact on the war. Brazil also joined th... Read more

The birth of Poland was a foregone conclusion, but where its boundaries should lie was very much in dispute and led to b... Read more

The Dual Monarchy of Austria-Hungary struggles to remain relevant in the quickly changing nineteenth century.

Russia has 100,000 soldiers in Manchuria, and is pressuring Japan's interests in Korea. When diplomacy fails, Japan laun... Read more

This first of a three-part series on the end of Austria-Hungary tells the story of the birth of Czechoslovakia.