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
  • Podcast Series: Canadian Confederation

    Multipage Article

    In this podcast Professor Edward MacDonald of the University of Prince Edward Island discusses the origins of the Charlottetown Conference of 1864, Canadian Confederation and the development of Canada over the 20th Century.

    Click to view
  • Podcast Series: Russia and the USSR

    Multipage Article

    An HA Podcasted History of Russia and the USSR featuring Dr Beryl Williams, Dr Jonathan Davis of Anglia Ruskin University, Dr Edwin Bacon of Birkbeck University of London and Professor Peter Waldron of the University of East Anglia.

    Click to view
  • The shortest war in history: The Anglo-Zanzibar War of 1896

    Article

    At 9am on 27 August 1896, following an ultimatum, five ships of the Royal Navy began a bombardment of the Royal Palace and Harem in Zanzibar. Thirty-eight, or 40, or 43 minutes later, depending on which source you believe, the bombardment stopped when the white flag of surrender was raised...

    Click to view
  • Triumphs Show 156: Fresh perspectives on the First World War

    Article

    Year 9 think they know a lot about the First World War. After all, they read Michael Morpurgo's novel Private Peaceful in their English lessons all the way back in Year 7, they've seen Blackadder so many times they can recite it, and in the centenary year of the war's...

    Click to view
  • 'But why then?' Chronological context and historical interpretations

    Article

    When Michael Fordham was introduced to Dr Seuss's Butter Battle Book he immediately recognised its potential value in the classroom as a popular interpretation of the Cold War. Wanting his Year 9 pupils to explain how and why the past has been interpreted in different ways he shows the potential pitfalls...

    Click to view
  • Polychronicon 156: The transnational history of the First World War

    Article

    With the publication in 2014 of the Cambridge History of the  First World War, we enter a new transnational phase in the historical understanding of the conflict. The reasons why this change has come about are evident. The first is that there are more transnational historians writing the history of...

    Click to view
  • Afghanistan in the 1950s - Films

    Article

    We are used to Afghanistan, and especially Helmand Province, being in the news recently. Afghanistan is seen as a source of conflict and terror. But here are some recently rediscovered films of the area in the 1950s that paint rather a different picture of the country - a picture of...

    Click to view
  • We Remember Rwanda

    Article

    As an IOE Beacon School, St John's explored how learning about the Holocaust can improve understanding about other genocides and help strengthen efforts towards genocide prevention. ‘We Remember Rwanda' One important outcome is the impact on students, aged 13-17, who - in the 20th anniversary year of the genocide in...

    Click to view
  • The Assassination of Arch Duke Franz Ferdinand

    Article

    On Saturday 28th of June it will be 100 years since the Arch Duke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated with his wife Sophie in Sarajevo. As everyone knows or will know after this summer that assassination led to the start of the First World War. The young man who fired the...

    Click to view
  • India in 1914

    Article

    Rather as Queen Victoria was never as ‘Victorian' as we tend to assume, so British India in the years leading up to 1914 does not present the cliched spectacle of colonists in pith helmets and shorts lording it over subservient natives that we might assume. Certainly that sort of relationship...

    Click to view
  • Bringing Rwanda into the classroom

    Article

    A short 20 years: meeting the challenges facing teachers who bring Rwanda into the classroom As the twentieth anniversary of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda approaches, Mark Gudgel argues that we should face the challenges posed by teaching about Rwanda. Drawing on his experience as a history teacher in the...

    Click to view
  • Helping Year 9 debate the purposes of genocide education

    Article

    Connecting the dots: helping Year 9 to debate the purposes of Holocaust and genocide education Why do we teach about the Holocaust and about other genocides? The Holocaust has been a compulsory part of the English National Curriculum since 1991; however, curriculum documents say little about why pupils should learn...

    Click to view
  • Can we educate Year 9 in genocide prevention?

    Article

    Patterns of genocide: can we educate Year 9 in genocide prevention? Alison Stephen, who has wrestled for many years with the challenges of teaching emotional and controversial history within a multiethnic school setting, relished the opportunity to link her school's teaching of the Holocaust with a comparative study of other genocides....

    Click to view
  • Learning lessons from genocides

    Article

    ‘Never again'? Helping Year 9 think about what happened after the Holocaust and learning lessons from genocides ‘Never again' is the clarion call of much Holocaust and genocide education. There is a danger, however, that it can become an empty, if pious, wish. How can we help pupils reflect seriously on...

    Click to view
  • An authentic voice: perspectives on the value of listening to survivors of genocide

    Article

    It is common practice to invite survivors of the Holocaust to speak about their experiences to pupils in schools and colleges. Systematic reflection on the value of working with survivors of the Holocaust and other genocides and on how to make the most of doing so is rarer, however. In...

    Click to view
  • Building an overview of the historic roots of antisemitism

    Article

    ‘But I still don't get why the Jews': using cause and change to answer pupils' demand for an overview of antisemitism Research by the Centre for Holocaust Education has suggested that students need and want more help with building an overview of the historical roots of antisemitism and that they...

    Click to view
  • Unsung Heroes: The British Merchant Navy WW2

    Multipage Article

    The British Merchant Navy was a term that applied to the employees of British shipping companies whose vessels ranged from the sleekest ocean liners to obsolete tramp steamers. Merchant seamen already included contingents of Black, Asian and Arab sailors and the British Merchant Fleet was swelled between 1939 and 1945...

    Click to view
  • Bill Hall - Empire at War

    Multipage Article

    Bill Hall was born in Coventry in 1944. His grandfather came to Britain in 1901, and worked in the Daimler car factory. In this video Bill talks about the part his family played in supporting the war effort during World War Two.

    Click to view
  • Podcast Series: The Cold War

    Multipage Article

    An HA Podcasted History of the Cold War featuring Dr Elena Hore of the University of Essex, Dr Matthew Grant of Teeside University, Dr Holger Nehring of the University of Sheffield, Dr Michael Shin of the University of Cambridge, Professor Mark White of Queen Mary University of London, Professor Charles...

    Click to view
  • The Fall of Singapore 1942

    Article

    Churchill called it "the worst disaster and the largest capitulation in British history" and the Fall of Singapore on 15 February 1942 has certainly gathered its own mythology in the past 70 years. Was it all the fault of General Percival; were the guns pointing the wrong way; did the...

    Click to view