Collapse at the Center
The “Great War,” also known as the First World War or World War I (1914-1918), effectively launched the 20th century, considered a new turning point in world history. That bitter conflict—essentially a European war with a global reach—provoked the Russian Revolution and the beginnings of world communism. It was followed by the economic meltdown of the Great Depression, by the rise of Nazi Germany and the horrors of the Holocaust, and by World War II (1937-1945), an even bloodier and more destructive version of the Great War that involved much of the world. During those decades, Western Europe—for much of the Modern Period being the dominant center of the world—largely self-destructed, in a process with profound and long-term effects that go far beyond Europe itself. By 1945, an outside observer might have thought that Western civilization, which for several centuries held superiority in the global stage, had damaged itself beyond repair. Certainly, the immediate rise of the United States and the Soviet Union (Russia) as rival superpowers marked a very different balance of global power.
In the second half of the 20th century, however, European civilization proved resilient. Western Europe recovered remarkably from the devastation of war, rebuilt its industrial economy, and set aside its war-prone nationalist passions into a democratic, international governing organization called the European Union. But as Europe revived after 1945, it lost both the majority of its overseas colonial possessions and its position as the political, economic, and military core of the Global North. That role now passed across the Atlantic to the United States, marking a major change in the historical development of the West. The offspring now overshadowed its parent.
In the second half of the 20th century, however, European civilization proved resilient. Western Europe recovered remarkably from the devastation of war, rebuilt its industrial economy, and set aside its war-prone nationalist passions into a democratic, international governing organization called the European Union. But as Europe revived after 1945, it lost both the majority of its overseas colonial possessions and its position as the political, economic, and military core of the Global North. That role now passed across the Atlantic to the United States, marking a major change in the historical development of the West. The offspring now overshadowed its parent.