18851930

The designation 1885–1930 refers to the historical period spanning from the mid-1880s to the early 1930s. It encompasses late 19th-century industrial expansion, imperial competition, World War I, and the early postwar transformations that shaped global politics, economics, and culture.

During the late 19th century, European powers intensified overseas colonization in Africa and Asia, culminating in the division of Africa after the 1884–85 Berlin Conference and ongoing imperial administration in many regions. Industrialization accelerated urbanization, transportation networks, and the rise of new consumer economies. In the Americas, nation-building and modernization continued alongside social reform movements.

The First World War (1914–1918) marked a watershed event, leading to the collapse of several empires, redrawing of borders, and the establishment of international institutions such as the League of Nations (founded 1920). The war and its aftermath produced political upheavals, including revolutions in Russia (1917) and various nationalist and reform movements worldwide.

Economically, the period saw dramatic growth and later volatility. The 1920s brought advances in electricity, transport, telecommunications, and consumer goods, accompanied by cultural transformations known as the Jazz Age and modernist movements. Many countries expanded suffrage and social policy, while financial instability culminated in the 1929 stock market crash and the onset of global economic distress in the following years.

Throughout 1885–1930, globalization intensified through trade, migration, and the diffusion of technology and ideas, but the era ended with widespread economic hardship and political experimentation that laid groundwork for subsequent decades.