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The period from 1930 to 1950 encompasses major upheavals that reshaped global politics, economy, and society. The early 1930s were defined by the Great Depression, which caused widespread unemployment and hardship. Governments responded with public works, monetary reforms, and social insurance programs, exemplified by the New Deal in the United States and similar measures elsewhere. These policies aimed to revive economies and expand state roles in welfare and labor rights.

Concurrently, authoritarian and expansionist regimes rose in several regions. In Europe, the Nazi regime consolidated power and pursued territorial expansion, culminating in World War II. Fascist Italy and militarist Japan forged alliances, while the Spanish Civil War foreshadowed broader conflict. The war, from 1939 to 1945, ended with Allied victory, the Holocaust, and the use of atomic weapons against Japan.

World War II produced a new international order. The United Nations was established in 1945 to prevent future conflicts. The war ended with major geopolitical shifts: Western Europe and Japan began recovery; the United States and the Soviet Union emerged as superpowers; and atomic diplomacy began. The postwar period also saw rapid decolonization in Africa and Asia and the founding of new international institutions.

Key postwar developments included economic aid to Europe via the Marshall Plan (1948), the policy of containment in the Truman Doctrine (1947), and the creation of NATO (1949). In Asia, the People's Republic of China was established in 1949 after the civil war, while the Republic of China retreated to Taiwan. By 1950, the Korean War had begun, signaling the start of the Cold War era.