18681946

18681946 denotes the span from 1868 to 1946, covering the late 19th century through the Second World War and into the immediate postwar era. During this period, globalization expanded rapidly, driven by industrialization, rail networks, and expanding empires. The era began with notable reforms such as the Meiji Restoration in Japan (1868), the consolidation of nation-states in Europe and the Americas, and intensified imperial competition.

Advances in science and technology transformed everyday life and production, including the emergence of relativity and quantum theory in the early 20th century. World War I (1914–1918) redrew borders and societies, and the Russian Revolution of 1917 led to the creation of the Soviet state. The interwar period saw economic volatility, the Great Depression after 1929, and the rise of totalitarian movements in some regions.

World War II (1939–1945) caused immense destruction but also established new international institutions, culminating in the founding of the United Nations in 1945. The postwar era began shaping decolonization, reconstruction, and the early stages of a new geopolitical order, with broad social changes such as urbanization and expanded education.

Across these years, cultural movements such as modernism and shifts in ideas about science, technology, and human rights helped define the transition from the 19th to the 20th century. The period thus encompasses profound transformations in politics, economy, society, and culture that influenced global developments for decades to come.