19171946

1917–1946 refers to the thirty‑nine year period that spans the years immediately following the First World War until the mid‑1940s. This era witnessed a series of profound geopolitical, social, and technological transformations on a global scale. It encompasses the Russian Revolution of 1917, the subsequent civil war and the establishment of the Soviet Union; the collapse of several empires, including the Austro‑Hungarian, Ottoman, and German Empires; and the widespread re‑ordering of borders by the Treaty of Versailles and other post‑war agreements.

During the 1920s the interwar period saw a flourishing of cultural expression—such as jazz and the Spanish art movement known as the Gran Vía—and advances in aviation and the automobile. The period was also marked by the Great Depression of 1929, which triggered economic hardship worldwide and fed political radicalisation. In the 1930s, the rise of totalitarian regimes in Germany, Italy, and Spain led to aggressive expansionist policies, culminating in the Spanish Civil War and the looming threat of a continental war.

World War II (1939‑1945) dominated the latter part of the period. The war involved the United Kingdom, the United States, the Soviet Union, China, and numerous other states. Its conclusion in 1945 ended the Axis powers, ushered in a new global order, and precipitated the beginnings of the United Nations. The year 1946 marked the early stages of post‑war reconstruction and the emergence of the United States as a superpower, setting the stage for the Cold War and the geopolitical dynamics of the late twentieth century. This period remains a focal point for historians studying the rapid evolution of world politics, economics, and society in the first half of the twentieth century.