What, in your opinion, was the most significant political event in the 20th Century?

Question

It's for a school project. I'm doing all kinds of research, I just want your opinion.

By the way say why you chose your answer.

Answer 1

The Treaty of Versailles.

It ended 4 kingdoms, shattered dozens of countries, mentioned an Israeli homeland, ignored communism, established the League of Nations (precursor to the UN), and paved the way for WW2, Viet Nam, and modern Middle East crisis.

It was a scary and dreadful treaty that clearly was more of a punishment for Germany, Austria-Hungary, and the Ottoman Empire, and safe declaration of French, Italian, Japanese, British, and US dominance in the world.

Answer 2

For the 20th?: 1) The Battle of the Ardennes in WW1 2) The Battle of Britain WW2 3) The Battle of the Bulge WW2 4) The Battle of Midway WW2 5) The Battle of Israeli Independence 1949 (I think) The 21st has really seen only one significant (by that I mean world changing) : The Battle of Baghdad which ousted Saddam and the Baathists. The word Patriot is fluid...The 20th saw too many to list while we can't be certain of the 21st yet. Presuming that we don't just call ALL soldiers 'patriots', I will submit the name of Pat Tillman. He gave up a very lucrative NFL career and his life to serve in Iraq. Like so many professionals who left their careers in WW2 when they weren't required to in order to serve in a cause they believed in.

Answer 3

Again, The fall of communism in eastern Europe, and I will go further to say The fall of communism in Russia itself. All this happened because of one of the biggest "bluffs" in US history. When President Reagan said we were going to have the "Star Wars Defense" he knew we were not even close to having such a system, it was stuck on the drawing board. It may yet be stuck on the drawing board, if it ever even got that far. He refused to drop the idea in talks with the Russian premier at the time Gorbachev (sp?). The Russians said they would not sign a deal unless we dropped the idea of SDI. Reagan steadfastly said NO WAY. The Russian economy was doing so badly at the time, they could not even consider reciprocating with their version of such a system. In other words, they were broke. When those talks failed to get SDI off the list, the Russians decided it would be better to just "throw in the towel". Thus bringing the arms race to a grinding halt. The Russian government soon could not even feed their population, and civil unrest set in. The rest is history. All this based on the biggest hoax ever perpetrated in political history. We still do not have SDI (Star-wars Defense Initiative).

Answer 4

The building of communication bridges. They connect dialog and that is an important step for unification. Broken dialog leaves too much room for guess work and mistakes are made in those ways. Saying what you mean and feeling safe to do so does help unclog the old memory banks and there is nothing worse than using old language when progress in dialog has been made.

Answer 5

The Treaty of Versailles. With this single treaty, four major Empires ended and the world revved up for WWII.

Answer 6

The fall of communism in Eastern Europe.

Answer 7

For the U.S., it was the entry of the US into WWII.

We attempted to be neutral. It didn't work. With our entry into WWII we gave up all semblance of neutrality and became the police of the world. Some good, some bad, but it has defined the U.S. since then.

Answer 8

The creation of Israel as an independent nation.
For the people of Israel, they finally had a homeland.

Answer 9

the dropping of the atomic bomb on japan
it ended the largest war in history

Answer 10

WWII and the Holocaust.