Editor's note

Sometimes a world political event is so cataclysmic that it reverberates not just years, but decades later. We wanted to take a closer look at ten such events from the past century.

It wasn’t easy to keep the list to just 11, and of course these things are always open to debate. But the end of the first world war was an obvious choice, as was the Holocaust, the fall of the Berlin Wall and the twin tower bombings of September 11. After discussing it with our academic experts we also added in the Iranian Revolution, the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the legacy of Pinochet’s rule in Chile, the end of Apartheid, the assassination of John F. Kennedy, Deng Xiaoping’s rise to power and the Russian Revolution.

In each, we asked our authors to explain what these events were about, how they unfolded, and what happened in the immediate aftermath, as well as examining the ways in which they are still being played out today.

Amanda Dunn

Section Editor: Politics + Society

1914-1918

Understanding the first world war is an exercise in comprehending the depth of human commitment to destruction, violence and resilience at a scale never experienced before 1914. BNF France

World politics explainer: The Great War (WWI)

Romain Fathi, Flinders University

More than 16 million people lost their lives in world war one. Over a century later, we are still asking – for what?

1917

To try and understand the Russian revolution outside of the broader social context of the time is to neglect the development of nationhood in the region. Wikicommons

World politics explainer: the Russian revolution

Mark Edele, University of Melbourne

The Russian Revolution – an event that affected more than Russia and was more than a revolution.

1941-1945

The horrific incarceration of European Jews during WWII should never be forgotten, particularly when we need to solve contemporary genocide and forced migration issues.

World politics explainer: The Holocaust

Daniella Doron, Monash University

6 million Jews were killed in the Holocaust. What happened then, and how we can keep to the promise – “never again”?

1945

It’s been more than 70 years since an atomic weapon was used in warfare, but the global nuclear weapons stockpile still stands at more than 14,000 warheads. U.S. National Archives and Records Administration

World politics explainer: The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Amy Maguire, University of Newcastle

When the United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, it unleashed one of the most devastating events in history, which still has implications today.

1963

John F. Kennedy’s assassination shocked the world in the 1960s and arguably played a part in the rise of Donald Trump today. Abbie Rowe/AAP

World politics explainer: the assassination of John F. Kennedy

Lloyd Cox, Macquarie University

The reverberations of JFK's assassination can still be felt to this day in the paranoid and racialised politics of the American right

1973-1990

Pinochet in the car, 1982 celebrating the 8th anniversary of the coup. His dictatorship in Chile was both a step forwards for neoliberalism and a step back for democracy and human rights. Wikimedia Commons

World politics explainer: Pinochet’s Chile

Peter Read, Australian National University

Forefather of contemporary neoliberalism or violent dictator – Pinochet's complicated legacy in Chile and the world.

1978

Chinese stamps commemorating Deng Xiaoping, a leader widely regarded to have modernised the country and made it a formidable economic power, 1998. Shutterstock

World politics explainer: Deng Xiaoping’s rise to power

James Laurenceson, University of Technology Sydney

China is one of the world's largest economies, and Deng Xiaoping was arguably the man who made that happen through his visions of economic reform.

1978-1979

Protests during the Iranian Revolution, 1978 represent broader struggles across the region between secular and Islamic models of governance playing out. Wikicommons

World politics explainer: the Iranian Revolution

Mehmet Ozalp, Charles Sturt University

The Iranian Revolution was a hard-fought battle for those in favour of the Islamist model of governance, inspiring similar movements that have had varying degrees of success across the region.

1989

Berlin Wall, 1988. The fall of the Berlin Wall signifies the end of the Cold War and the victory of liberal democratic values. Shutterstock

World politics explainer: The fall of the Berlin Wall

Andrew Bonnell, The University of Queensland

Though the fall of the Berlin Wall did not bring along the utopia many had hoped for, it is a symbolic moment for the victors of the Cold War.

1990-1993

Anti-Apartheid protest in the 1980s are mere snapshots of time in the long journey towards equality, paved by the sweat and blood of those in the African National Congress and beyond. Paul Weinberg/Wikicommons

World politics explainer: the end of Apartheid

David Robinson, Edith Cowan University

Understanding the impact of Apartheid requires looking beyond Nelson Mandela's achievements to the bloody struggles of the African National Congress and international forces prolonging the violence.

2011

South Tower being hit during the 9/11 attacks. The events of September 11 2001 has significantly shaped American attitudes and actions towards fighting terrorism, surveilling citizens and othering outsiders. NIST SIPA/Wikicommons

World politics explainer: The twin-tower bombings (9/11)

Barbara Keys, University of Melbourne

Though more consequences are likely to develop in the post-9/11 era, the war on terror, heightened government surveillance and Islamophobia are notable legacies of this early 21st century tragedy.

 

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