The History of the Twentieth Century

With the narrative at the beginning of the Second World War, we pause to consider what lessons can be learned from the past twenty years.

Adolf Hitler believed that the leaders of France and Britain would be too cowardly to go to war to defend Poland, but even if they did, he was willing to take them on. Here we go again...

As Germany was ratcheting up the pressure against Poland, it and the USSR signed a non-aggression agreement. No one knew it at the time, but this agreement contained secret protocols that, among other things, divided Poland between them.

Electronic amplification allowed singers and musicians to perform in a softer, more intimate way. The new styles became very popular, especially in the USA.

By 1938, it was clear the Spanish Republic was in trouble. British and French efforts to maintain peace with Germany and Italy had the side effect eliminating whatever hope remained.

Roosevelt was re-elected in 1936 by an historic margin, but the years 1937-38 saw him stumble.

Over the course of the 1930s, entertainment on radio evolved into a mix of drama, situation comedy, soap opera, and kids' programming that would serve as the model for broadcast entertainment for the rest of the century.

Advertising agencies as we know them today came into existence at the dawn of the twentieth century. These agencies were reluctant to move into radio advertising, but in the US, the medium was soon dominated by them.

In Germany in the 1930s, modern science was exploring the limits of what can be known, at the same time the Nazi political movement was claiming absolute knowledge.

Just weeks after the Munich Agreement avoided a war, Germany was wracked by a spasm of internal anti-Semitic violence.