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Twentieth Century History

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Activism in the US · DPLA Omeka. Digital Public Library of America. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Cold War Museum. Additional Links.

Cold War Museum

Civil Rights Movement - Black History. The civil rights movement was a struggle for social justice that took place mainly during the 1950s and 1960s for blacks to gain equal rights under the law in the United States.

Civil Rights Movement - Black History

The Civil War had officially abolished slavery, but it didn’t end discrimination against blacks—they continued to endure the devastating effects of racism, especially in the South. By the mid-20th century, African Americans had had more than enough of prejudice and violence against them. They, along with many whites, mobilized and began an unprecedented fight for equality that spanned two decades. Jim Crow Laws During Reconstruction, blacks took on leadership roles like never before. In 1868, the 14th Amendment to the Constitution gave blacks equal protection under the law. To marginalize blacks, keep them separate from whites and erase the progress they’d made during Reconstruction, “Jim Crow” laws were established in the South beginning in the late 19th century.

Apartheid and reactions to it. The architects of Apartheid. © Apartheid Museum Archive.

Apartheid and reactions to it

In 1948, the National Party (NP), representing Afrikaners, won the national election on a platform of racism and segregation under the slogan of 'apartheid’. Apartheid built upon earlier laws, but made segregation more rigid and enforced it more aggressively. All Government action and response was decided according to the policy of apartheid. In turn, apartheid failed to respond effectively and adequately to concerns that had led to intermittent labour and civic unrest that erupted in the aftermath of World War II. History of Fashion 1920's - 1930's. History of Fashion 1920’s – 1930’s ‘Fashion is not something that exists in dresses only.

History of Fashion 1920's - 1930's

Fashion is in the sky, in the street, fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening’ Coco Chanel Copyright © AFP/Collection Roger-Viollet – Concours d’élégance en 1925. World War Two - Causes. World War Two began in September 1939 when Britain and France declared war on Germany following Germany's invasion of Poland.

World War Two - Causes

The Great Depression - Facts & Summary. Hoover, a Republican who had formerly served as U.S. secretary of commerce, believed that government should not directly intervene in the economy, and that it did not have the responsibility to create jobs or provide economic relief for its citizens.

The Great Depression - Facts & Summary

In 1932, however, with the country mired in the depths of the Great Depression and some 15 million people (more than 20 percent of the U.S. population at the time) unemployed, Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt won an overwhelming victory in the presidential election. By Inauguration Day (March 4, 1933), every U.S. state had ordered all remaining banks to close at the end of the fourth wave of banking panics, and the U.S. Treasury didn’t have enough cash to pay all government workers.

Nonetheless, FDR (as he was known) projected a calm energy and optimism, famously declaring that “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” The Treaty of Versailles. The Treaty of Versailles was the peace settlement signed after World War One had ended in 1918 and in the shadow of the Russian Revolutionand other events in Russia.

The Treaty of Versailles

The treaty was signed at the vast Versailles Palace near Paris – hence its title – between Germany and the Allies. The three most important politicians there were David Lloyd George, Georges Clemenceau and Woodrow Wilson. The Versailles Palace was considered the most appropriate venue simply because of its size – many hundreds of people were involved in the process and the final signing ceremony in the Hall of Mirrors could accommodate hundreds of dignitaries. Many wanted Germany, now led by Friedrich Ebert, smashed; others, like Lloyd George, were privately more cautious.World War One had left Europe devastated. Those countries that had fought in it, had suffered casualties never experienced before: Those who had fought against the Allies suffered heavy casualties as well: His public image was simple. Territorial Military. The World Factbook.

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The World Factbook

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Amnesty International. World History Archives: History of world society.