19131954

1913–1954 is a historical span sometimes used to bracket the late prewar era through the mid-20th century's early Cold War years. As a loose periodization, it is employed across disciplines to examine politics, society, culture, and technology that shaped the first half of the 20th century. The starting year, 1913, sits just before World War I, while the end year, 1954, marks a point at which postwar reconstruction and decolonization accelerates and Cold War dynamics are becoming more defined.

Key developments within this period include the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the Russian Revolution of 1917, and the redrawing of national borders after 1918. The interwar years saw economic volatility and the rise of new ideologies, culminating in World War II (1939–1945) and its global consequences, including the Holocaust and the victory of Allied powers. The war's aftermath established new international institutions, notably the United Nations in 1945, and set the stage for the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union. The late 1940s and early 1950s witnessed decolonization, the division of Europe, and regional conflicts such as the Korean War (1950–1953). In 1954, the Geneva Conference addressed Indochina and led to the partition of Vietnam; the year also saw milestones in domestic reform in various countries, such as the U.S. Supreme Court ruling Brown v. Board of Education.

As a periodization, 1913–1954 is used to compare political systems, economic cycles, social movements, and cultural shifts across a century-long arc, while remaining a non-official, cross-disciplinary label rather than a fixed historical era.