20th century differed from the world at the end of the 19th century - Term Paper Example

Twentieth Century Differed From Nineteenth Century The time from the late 19th century until the end of the 20th century saw the world go through various dramatic modifications that had an effect on all facets of society. However, one thing did not change: the rule of the West over Asia, South America, and Africa. During the period, this rule remained constant in international and global relations. This was the one most significant modification in the worldwide structure of power was the temperament of this rule: in the whole of the above mentioned time period (late 19th century till the end of the 20th century), the worldwide structure of power has transformed from one of obvious rule to one of concealed rule.

Asians and African have tried to function in the power structure; however, this structure of power has been engineered to uphold Western rule over economic, social, and geo-political articles (White, pg 98). At the beginning of the 20th century, racial and gender, discrimination still prevailed in the society. Even though the 19th century had seen the end of the Atlantic slave trade, the struggle for equality of Africans in the white population of Europe, South America, and North America sustained.

All through the century, the societal taboo regarding gender discrimination decreased. The end of the 20th century witnessed that in almost all regions of the globe, women’s rights equaled that of men. Moreover, not only did people of other cultures get equal rights by the society, but most people criticized racial discrimination as well (White, pg 98). The term Specialism was created during the 1970s, as society began to wonder at, and question humanity’s natural prejudice regarding other species.

The closing years of the 19th century, and the whole of the 20th century saw considerable amount of industrial development. Americans abandoned many farms and small towns in favor of industries and factories. These industries and factories, created for mass yield and exemplified on precipitous hierarchy, depended on manual labor, and small salaries. Labor unions slowly gained power in these surroundings. In time, they attained considerable advancements in working circumstances. They also succeeded in modifying American politics: most of the time siding with the Democratic Party, labor unions made up a crucial part of most of the social legislation endorsed from the 1930s, from the time of President Franklin D.

Roosevelt’s New Deal, until the Kennedy and Johnson governments in the 1960s. Structured labor is still a significant economic and political power today; however, its authority has decreased a lot (White, pg 101).Manufacturing has decreased in comparative significance, and the service sector has developed and advanced. An increasing amount of laborers has managerial office positions, as compared to lowly factory positions. Newly developed factories and industries have searched for workers who can adjust to constant new changes and advancements made by computers and other innovative technologies.

A mounting emphasis on customization and a requirement to alter products often to meet market and consumer demands has led some managers to decrease hierarchy, and to depend as an alternative on self-motivated, inter-disciplinary groups of employees.The time duration from January 1, 1901 to December 31, 2000 is known as the 20th century. The German, Austro-Hungarian, Chinese, Ottoman, and Russian empires disintegrated during the initial half of the century, with all except the French, Japanese, and British empires crumbling during World War I, and Russia converted into the communism based nation of Soviet Union.

The Great Depression, which occurred during the Inter-war years, led to a large amount of disturbance in the global economy. Not long after that, the Second World War commenced, grouping the Allied nations (mainly the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, and the United States), against the Axis nations (Italy, the Empire of Japan, and Nazi Germany). This ultimately led to a complete victory for the Allied nations, with above 60 million lives being lost, which includes millions of civilians, and the total destruction and wreckage of many countries.

The left over colonial empires disintegrated very soon post-war (White, pg 101). When the last years of the 20th century came around, more technological development and growth had been done than ever before. Europe seemed to have attained more considerable peace and harmony than ever witnessed before. The citizens of the Indian subcontinent, making up one-sixth of the global population when the last years of the 20th century came around, had achieved ethnic independence after many centuries. China, an ancient civilization making up one-fifth of the global population, was finally exposed to the whole globe in an innovative and potent fusion of the west and the east, fashioning a new nation after the almost total obliteration of the old cultural system (White, pg 158).

Works CitedWhite, Gregory. Climate Change and Migration: Security and Borders in a Warming World. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011.