18861949

18861949 refers to the historical span from 1886 to 1949, used to frame events and developments across the late 19th and early-to-mid 20th century. The period encompasses rapid industrialization, urbanization, and scientific advancement, as well as regional and global upheavals that reshaped politics and society.

During this era, World War I (1914–1918) and World War II (1939–1945) redefined international power, borders, and economies. The Russian Revolution of 1917 contributed to the spread of socialist movements. The interwar years saw economic volatility culminating in the Great Depression of the 1930s and the rise of totalitarian regimes in some countries. The aftermath of World War II established new institutions, such as the United Nations in 1945, and set the stage for Cold War tensions; the North Atlantic Treaty Organization was founded in 1949, and the People's Republic of China was proclaimed in 1949.

The era also saw accelerating technological and cultural change, including the spread of electrification, mass communication, cinema, aviation, and early computing. Culturally, modernist movements in art and literature questioned traditional forms; social reforms expanded suffrage in several states, and urban life transformed with new lifestyles and migrations.

Geopolitically, the century-long decline of colonial empires gathered pace, while independence movements began reshaping the global map toward mid-century. The period 1886–1949 thus marks a transitional arc from imperial-era structures to the postwar order and the beginnings of a new international system.