World 1901-present

Some of the most profound and influential changes in world history take place from 1901 to today and covered here are many of the important and well known ones as well as some of the smaller stories. In terms of reach this section covers huge themes on diplomacy, post imperialism and economics. The articles cover the time period right up into recent events such as the State of the Union address by the US President Barrack Obama.

Sort by: Date (Newest first) | Title A-Z
Show: All | Articles | Podcasts | Multipage Articles
  • Film series: Power and authority in Russia and the Soviet Union

    13th August 2024

    We are delighted to present a new film series examining leadership in Russia and the USSR over the course of the twentieth century. Russia and its history often fascinates the rest of us in Europe as well as horrifying us. She has been our friend and ally, and our physical and ideological...

    Click to view
  • The Olympics - politics, impact and legacy - its not just about the sport

    Article

    2024 is an Olympic Games year. Held every four years (with the exception of during the World Wars and Covid-19 restrictions), the modern Olympics is the largest international sporting event in the world. However, historically it has not always been just the sports that are played and the athletes’ performances...

    Click to view
  • Lengthening Year 9’s narrative of the American civil rights movement

    Article

    Inspired by reading the work of Stephen Tuck, Ellie Osborne set out to design a new sequence of lessons that would help her students adopt a longer lens on the American civil rights movement. At the same time, Osborne wanted to put more emphasis on the agency and campaigns of activists,...

    Click to view
  • Come together: putting popular music at the heart of historical enquiry

    Article

    Drawing on a wide range of history teachers’ existing published work and presenting diverse examples of his own practice, David Ingledew builds a thorough curricular and pedagogic rationale for using popular music in history teaching. He shows how lyrics and music can be used as stimulus for various kinds of analysis and...

    Click to view
  • Films: Boris Yeltsin – Interpretations

    19th June 2024

    Borisn Yelstin was the Russian leader from the collapse of the Soviet Union through to the leadership of Vladimir Putin. A key pivotal figure of the twentieth century, he had as an important an impact on Russia and global politics as any of the Soviet leaders of the 1970s and 80s and...

    Click to view
  • Film: Yeltsin and the West

    Article

    In this film, Dr Edwin Bacon (University of Lincoln), looks how the positive relationship established between Mikhail Gorbachev and President Reagan and his successor President Bush continued with the ascension of Yeltsin to the presidency of Russia. Dr Bacon discusses how Russian perceptions of the West changed with the expansion...

    Click to view
  • Film: Yeltsin's second term and legacy

    Article

    In this final film on Yeltsin, Dr Edwin Bacon (University of Lincoln), discusses Yeltin’s second term and how his public profile went from hero to growing embarrassment. Importantly he examines how Yeltin’s search for a successor that would secure his family’s security led to rapid changes in Prime Ministers in...

    Click to view
  • Film: Yeltsin and the Oligarchs

    Article

    If you're unable to see the film below, please use the link for your Membership type:Historian members | Primary members | Secondary members | Student members

    Click to view
  • Film: Yeltsin's agenda

    Article

    In this film, Dr Edwin Bacon (University of Lincoln), discusses the emergence of Russia as a democratic country and its nascent capitalist economy. He outlines how the issues Yeltsin faced in government such as the 1993 constitutional crisis, followed by the shelling by tanks in Moscow led to Yeltsin rewriting...

    Click to view
  • Film: Yeltsin and the fall of the Soviet Union

    Article

    In this film, Dr Edwin Bacon (University of Lincoln), explores the role Yeltsin played in the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Dr Bacon takes us from the fall of the Berlin Wall, the rise of nationalism in the new republics, and how Yeltsin became Russia’s first elected head of state....

    Click to view
  • Film: Yeltsin and Russia in the late 1980s

    Article

    In this film, Dr Edwin Bacon (University of Lincoln), examines the political and economic repercussions of Gorbachev’s reforms. Dr Bacon reflects upon the dire state of the Soviet economy in the late 1980s/early 1990s and how that led to change but also unrest. In particular he addresses the way that...

    Click to view
  • Film: Stalin - Rise to Power

    Article

    In this film, Professor James Harris (University of Leeds) discusses how interpretations have changed over the years regarding Stalin’s rise to power, and his transformation from rural Georgian to the ‘Man of Steel’ – Stalin. For many years, western interpretations were strongly influenced by his rival Trotsky, who defined Stalin...

    Click to view
  • Film: Stalin - Early Life

    Article

    Joseph Stalin was born Joseph Besarionis dze Jughashvili in 1878 into a poor family in Gori, Georgia, part of the then Russian Empire. Stalin attended the Tbilisi Spiritual Seminary while his own radicalism grew, before joining the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party. He edited the party's newspaper, Pravda, and raised funds for Vladimir Lenin's Bolshevik faction through...

    Click to view
  • Film: Stalin - Interpretations and Legacy

    Article

    In this film, Professor James Harris (University of Leeds) reflects upon how historical interpretations of Stalin have changed over time. Stalin’s legacy and influence continues to materialise in all subsequent Soviet and Russian administrations. The Man of Steel is used by politicians when they are looking for arguments to open...

    Click to view
  • Film: Stalin - The Early Soviet Economy & the preparation for war

    Article

    In this film, Professor James Harris (University of Leeds) examines how the New Economic Policy transformed the Soviet economy after the civil war, and looks at Stalin’s central role in that recovery. Key during that period was Stalin’s dispute with Nikolai Bukharin and the Great Break, and the drive to...

    Click to view
  • Film: Stalin & the Great Terror

    Article

    Why was the Soviet Union so violent in the 1930s? In this film, Professor James Harris (University of Leeds) looks at differing interpretations of the origins of the Great Terror; was it the story of one man trying to obtain total control, was it a result of collective frustration against...

    Click to view
  • Film: Stalin - World War II

    Article

    In this film, Professor James Harris (University of Leeds) examines Stalin and the Soviet preparations for global war. The reasons why Stalin agreed the Nazi-Soviet pact are explored as are Stalin’s response to invasion in 1941. Professor Harris addresses the impact the war had on the USSR and how that...

    Click to view
  • Films: Mikhail Gorbachev – Interpretations

    Article

    How much of what Russia is today, how its people behave, and how they are perceived is dependent on its history and those that have led it? Was it the first melting pot of the world? Do its broad range of cultural traditions and diversity play a part in its...

    Click to view
  • Film: Gorbachev - Interpretations

    Article

    Mikhail Gorbachev’s leadership and period in office is remembered differently in different parts of the world. Professor Archie Brown discusses the different interpretations the have developed in the West and in Russia to Gorbachev and his legacy. He describes the impact and development of Post-Soviet Russia and how this has influenced...

    Click to view
  • Film: Gorbachev - Downfall

    Article

    Professor Archie Brown looks at the forces that led to Gorbachev's eventual downfall. He also examines the coup in 1991, the rise of Boris Yeltsin and the subsequent breakup of the Soviet Union. This film is part of our film series that looks at Russian history through the lens of leadership from Alexander...

    Click to view