Why call it the 'short' twentieth century?

Following Hobsbawm, many historians treat the meaningful twentieth century as running from 1914 to 1991—from the First World War to the collapse of the Soviet Union—rather than the calendar century.

What made the twentieth century so violent?

Total war, industrialized weaponry, ideological extremism, and genocide produced unprecedented death tolls; historians debate the causes, stressing combinations of technology, nationalism, and state power.

Twentieth Century and World Wars

The twentieth century was an era of total war, genocide, ideological extremes, and superpower rivalry, bracketed by the two world wars and the Cold War.

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Definition

The historical period from 1914 to 1991, defined by total war, mass political violence, ideological conflict, and the eventual collapse of the Cold War order.

Scope

This area surveys the history of the 'short twentieth century' from 1914 to 1991: the First and Second World Wars and the Holocaust, the rise of totalitarian regimes, the global Cold War, and the reconstruction of international order. It examines the era's unprecedented violence and its parallel achievements, drawing on the syntheses of Hobsbawm, Mazower, and Judt and the historiographical debates over how to interpret a century of extremes.

Sub-topics

Core questions

Why was the twentieth century so extraordinarily violent?
How did total war transform states, societies, and economies?
What explains the rise and appeal of totalitarian movements?
How did the world order change across the century?

Key concepts

total war
genocide
totalitarianism
Cold War
the short twentieth century

Key theories

The short twentieth century: Eric Hobsbawm characterized 1914-1991 as a 'short twentieth century' and an 'age of extremes', marked by catastrophe, a postwar golden age, and final crisis and collapse.
Europe's contingent dark century: Mark Mazower argued that liberal democracy was only one and not the inevitable outcome of Europe's twentieth century, which also produced fascism and communism as serious competitors.

History

The twentieth century's defining catastrophes began with the First World War in 1914 and continued through the rise of fascism and communism, the Second World War and the Holocaust, and the long Cold War. Major synthetic histories by Hobsbawm, Mazower, and Judt have framed the era as one of extremes and contingency rather than inevitable progress.

Debates

Periodizing the century: Historians debate whether a 'short twentieth century' (1914-1991) is the right frame and how to weigh the era's catastrophes against its social and economic gains.
Continuity of the two world wars: Scholars dispute whether the two world wars and the interwar period form a single 'long war' or 'thirty years' war' of the twentieth century.

Key figures

Eric Hobsbawm
Mark Mazower
Tony Judt
Adam Tooze
Ian Kershaw

Seminal works

hobsbawm1994
mazower1998
judt2005

Frequently asked questions

Why call it the 'short' twentieth century?: Following Hobsbawm, many historians treat the meaningful twentieth century as running from 1914 to 1991—from the First World War to the collapse of the Soviet Union—rather than the calendar century.
What made the twentieth century so violent?: Total war, industrialized weaponry, ideological extremism, and genocide produced unprecedented death tolls; historians debate the causes, stressing combinations of technology, nationalism, and state power.