19211960

1921–1960 refers to the historical span from the year 1921 through 1960, a period that witnessed dramatic upheavals and transformations across most regions of the world. After World War I, many countries faced economic readjustment, political instability, and social change. In the Soviet Union, the 1920s saw consolidation under Lenin and transition to Stalinist policies, including the New Economic Policy followed by centralized planning. The 1920s and 1930s were marked by economic volatility, international tension, and the rise of totalitarian movements in several countries, culminating in World War II (1939–1945). The war produced unprecedented human and material costs and led to the reordering of global power.

The postwar period saw the establishment of new institutions and alliances, such as the United Nations (founded in 1945), the Bretton Woods financial system, and military pacts like NATO (1949). The wartime confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union precipitated the Cold War, shaping geopolitics for decades. Under this rivalry, decolonization accelerated in Asia, Africa, and beyond during the 1950s, while some states, like India (1947), gained independence early in the period, and others followed through the 1950s and 1960s.

Technological and social changes accompanied these political shifts: the spread of mass media, jet propulsion, the beginnings of the space age (Sputnik 1957), advances in medicine and industry, and the emergence of civil rights movements in the United States during the 1950s. The period ends at the threshold of the 1960s, setting the stage for subsequent political, economic, and cultural developments.