-
Period: to
WWI
World War I or the First World War, often abbreviated as WWI or WW1 and referred to by some Anglophone authors as the "Great War" or the "War to End All Wars", was a global conflict that lasted from 1914 to 1918, and is considered one of the deadliest conflicts in history. -
Period: to
Rise of Communism
communism grew out of the socialist movement in 19th-century Europe. As the Industrial Revolution advanced, socialist critics blamed capitalism for the misery of the proletariat—a new class of urban factory workers who labored under often-hazardous conditions. -
Treaty of Verseilles
The Treaty of Versailles is one of the most controversial armistice treaties in history. The treaty's so-called “war guilt” clause forced Germany and other Central Powers to take all the blame for World War I. -
Period: to
stalin
Joseph Stalin, second leader of the Soviet Union, died on 5 March 1953 at his Kuntsevo Dacha at the age of 74, after suffering a stroke. He was given a state funeral in Moscow on 9 March, with four days of national mourning declared. -
Period: to
The Great Depression
It began after the stock market crash of October 1929, which sent Wall Street into a panic and wiped out millions of investors. Over the next several years, consumer spending and investment dropped, causing steep declines in industrial output and employment as failing companies laid off workers. -
Period: to
Hitler
His invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939, triggered the European phase of World War II. During the course of the war, Nazi military forces rounded up and executed 11 million victims they deemed inferior or undesirable—“life unworthy of life”—among them Jews, Slavs, homosexuals, and Jehovah's Witnesses. -
Period: to
WWII
World War II was the biggest and deadliest war in history, involving more than 30 countries. Sparked by the 1939 Nazi invasion of Poland, the war dragged on for six bloody years until the Allies defeated Nazi Germany and Japan in 1945. -
IMF
Opponents of the IMF argue that the loans enable member countries to pursue reckless domestic economic policies knowing that, if needed, the IMF will bail them out. This safety net, critics charge, delays needed reforms and creates long-term dependency. -
World Bank
The World Bank Group's Integrity Vice Presidency (INT) investigates allegations of fraud, corruption, collusion, coercion and obstruction in World Bank Group-supported activities, including allegations against World Bank Group staff. -
Bretton Woods Conference
The two major accomplishments of the conference were the creation of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD). The lessons taken by U.S. policymakers from the interwar period informed the institutions created at the conference. -
GATT
The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) was signed by 23 countries in October 1947, after World War II, and became law on Jan. 1, 1948. The purpose of the GATT was to make international trade easier. In 1995, the GATT was absorbed into the World Trade Organization (WTO), which extended it. -
World Trade Organization
The WTO has many roles: it operates a global system of trade rules, it acts as a forum for negotiating trade agreements, it settles trade disputes between its members and it supports the needs of developing countries.